Silent Guardian
by bored411
Summary: "You were ignoring me" Note to self, pretending to ignore fedora kid equals gun in face. Bad idea. OCx?
1. Chapter 1

**One more ^^ I'm not as proud of it as I am the other ones, but someone might like it and if you do, please review and I will continue it!**

* * *

I sighed loudly as I glanced back and forth between the different shops, looking for someplace good to eat. I was new to town, just moved in from the States, and had yet to familiarize myself with anything. My brother had forced me to call him the moment I finished packing and he practically ordered me to leave the small apartment and to, as he put it, _enjoy myself_.

I adjusted the large headphones on my head just as I happened to spot a nice looking sushi shop. Stopping abruptly in the middle of the road, I finally convinced myself to head on in to grab a bite to eat. It had a nice traditional Japanese style to it and I was surprised that there were only four people currently eating here, but they were quite the odd group.

A young teen with spiked up brown hair was sitting next to a toddler wearing, what appeared to be a cow suit. The toddler had a large amount of hair with a pair of horns sticking out of it, but it was one of the couple sitting across from them that had me interested. The young woman seemed normal enough despite her odd light burgundy hair, but everyone was dying their hair nowadays so it didn't surprise me in the least. The person next to her was the most interesting. He was wearing a black suit and a fedora with a green stripe; a lizard of some sort sitting on the brim of the hat, and what appeared to be a green pacifier hung around his neck. He looked to be around the same age as the toddler across the table, but his eyes held a great depth to them that led me to think that he was no mere child.

I had sat down at the sushi bar at some point during my thought process and just barely noticed the owner of the shop getting angry at my lack of response.

"Hey, are you gonna order anything?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'll have the salmon and the crab, and can I get a glass of ice water?"

"Comin' right up!"

He handed me my glass and proceeded to prepare what I ordered as well as the other group's order. Not a minute later I was given my food and he went to give the group theirs. I noticed that some of them were being picky, but blew it off until the woman got up and ran. The rest of the group followed, leaving the teen behind to pay and before he could escape, the owner caught him.

I felt a bit bad for the kid after he tried calling someone and no one picked up, but before I could even offer my help someone walked in through the front. He was tall with black hair, probably around the same age as myself and the spiky haired kid. He also seemed to be related from the owner and friends with said teen, so I turned back to my food only to find the afro cow stealing what was on my plate. The moment we made eye contact, the kid pointed at me and laughed loudly.

"Haha! Lambo got your food, freaky head!"

I was about to say something when he hopped over the counter and began pillaging the rest of the sushi along with the woman and the other toddler. They all began to run off again and I decided that now would be a good time to help the poor guy out.

"Excuse me."

"The total cost will be about 70,000 yen."

"What should I do? I can't possibly pay for all that!"

"Hello?"

"How about working to pay it off?"

They all continued to ignore me until I finally snapped.

"Hey!"

All heads turned to me and the owner chuckled nervously.

"I-I'm sorry about all of this."

"It's fine. I was just going to say that I could pay for the damages. I don't mind helping this guy out."

"I can't allow that."

It was the toddler in the suit that had spoke to me, but I didn't hear him and began pulling out the required amount to pay for his and my sushi bill when something collided with the back of my head and knocking my headphones to the ground.

"Ow. Was that really necessary?"

I bent down to pick up the headphones and noticed that the cord was lying on the ground as well, not attached to anything. When I stood straight again, stuffing the cord in the pocket of my orange sculpture pants, I came face to face with the suit wearing fedora kid who was pointing a gun at my head from his spot on the table.

"It was. You were ignoring me."

"Look, I wasn't ignoring you. I'm deaf. Can't hear a word. I _can_, however read lips and do sign language. You weren't in front of me so I couldn't 'hear' you."

"Is that why you have nothing connected to your headphones?"

"Yup. Most people guess that I'm not listening when I wear these, so they tap me to get my attention. It's better than being pitied…But anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

"You don't need to pay for Dame-Tsuna's debt. He should be repaying you for Stupid Cow eating your sushi."

I looked over at Tsuna and saw him freaking out, yelling frantically. I turned back around and handed the cash to the owner before smirking at the toddler.

"Then he can pay _me _back. No need to make things any worse for him."

I put my wallet away and headed to the entrance, leaving without another word.

* * *

A cough from the teacher at the front of the class got everyone's attention as he was finally able to speak.

"Listen up. We have a new transfer student who just moved here from America, Natsu Tachibana. So please be on your best behavior. You can come on in now!"

The door opened and the girls went insane as I walked in the room. I kept my eyes on the teacher so I'd know when I could sit down, and finally he stopped talking long enough to point out my seat next to none other than Tsuna. He shrunk down in his seat when I glanced at him, but I tried to stay more focused on what the teacher was saying in case we were learning something I didn't know.

Lunch came around and I was swarmed by people asking questions, and somehow managed to answer them all and get on with actually eating. I reached into my bag and pulled out a cup of noodle and a thermos, pouring the hot water into the cup and waiting the required three minutes when Tsuna poked my shoulder to get my attention.

"Hm."

"U-Um, H-H-Hibari!"

I turned around to find a mean looking black haired teen, wearing the coat of the school uniform over his shoulders with a disciplinary badge on the arm, glaring at me.

"Natsu Tachibana, go change to the proper uniform, or I will bite you to death."

I turned back to Tsuna with a questioning look in my eyes.

"Did I understand that right? Bite me to death?"

He just nodded vigorously, but began freaking out when I felt something aiming for my head. My hand shot up and caught what appeared to be a tonfa, held by Hibari. I raised my eyebrow and pulled out the student handbook, flipping to the page that I memorized in case this occurred.

"Page 24, paragraph 3: 'A school uniform must be worn at all times and in a proper manner.' There is nothing here saying that a woman cannot wear the men's uniform. I've checked the whole handbook and nothing states other wise. Now I would appreciate if you did not aim weapons of any sort at my head. Any other deaf person would be on the floor in pain."

His eyes narrowed as he pulled the tonfa out of my grip and 'hmphed' as he walked out of the room. Shrugging my shoulders I began eating my noodles with the chopsticks I pullout out of my jacket sleeve. Of course, I didn't hear a word of Tsuna's freaking out about me being a girl until a grey haired boy slammed his hands on my desk. He began yelling at me, so I calmly set down my empty cup and spoke.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you're yelling about. I'm deaf and it's hard to read your lips when you let your emotions get out of control. Besides, you guys never asked whether I was female or not. Assumptions are not the same as facts, you know…Oh, and Tsuna? Isn't that your friend from the sushi shop?"

Sure enough, in the door way was the afro cow who was crying and shaking in what I like to call the 'pee dance'. Tsuna immediately went out into the hall way where the toddler pointed out the fedora kid resting on a branch. I was momentarily distracted until the kid turned around crying with a puddle at his feet. Tsuna quickly took the kid home and I ditched the rest of class, making the excuse that I needed to finish unpacking. Besides, I'd already learned what was being taught a while ago. Hopefully tomorrow wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

At least, that's what I thought until the fedora kid landed in front of me.

"Caiossu."

"Hey, um…"

"Reborn."

"Okay then. Is there something you need, Reborn?"

His smirk kind of scared me a bit, but I followed him as he led me outside where Tsuna, the grey haired guy, and the sushi owner's son were at. Tsuna began freaking out and I could only pick up a few words such as, "babysitting" "mafia" and "Lambo". Speaking of the cow, he just showed up and punched the grey haired guy in the face. I snickered until the guy kicked Lambo in the face, making the poor kid cry again. I turned back to Reborn to figure out what was going on.

"Let's start the compatibility test for babysitting Lambo then."

"Hold up, Reborn. I don't even know who these two are or why I'm here."

I was pointing over my shoulder at sushi and octopus head when Reborn explained.

"The one who kicked Stupid Cow is Gokudera Hayato and the one holding him back is Yamamoto Takeshi. Now, the rule is easy. Whoever makes him laugh is the winner. The time limit is 3 minutes."

Gokudera walked forward and bent down to try and make up with the toddler, who handed him something. Gokudera freaked out and threw the…grenade before strangling the afro headed kid. It was Yamamoto's turn and he decided to play catch with the kid. It looked fine, until the ball was thrown at tops speed at Lambo's face. The poor kid didn't stand a chance.

I headed over to help the kid, but this other girl picked him up before I had a chance so I just walked back to Reborn, kneeling down to ask him something.

"Who's that?"

"Haru. She goes to another school and has a crush on Tsuna, but she likes little kids more."

I nodded and sat cross-legged on the ground, pulling out a banana from my coat to eat as I watched the show. The cow pulled out yet another weapon and shot himself with it, changing into an adult, I guess.

"Hey Reborn, why does that kid have weapons anyway?"

"Lambo is from the Bovino Famiglia who specialize in weapon arsenal in the mafia."

"Mafia? Cool."

Reborn probably looked at me weird, but I was looking back the now crying adult Lambo, who had gotten hit in the head by the horn Yamamoto threw. I sighed and got up, walking over to the guy, before patting his back.

"Relax Lambo. If you stop crying I'll give you the candy I was saving for later."

He immediately looked up at me, relaxing until all you could hear were sniffles so I pulled out the grape sucker and handed it to him.

"You were always so nice to me, Natsu. Thanks."

"Sure thing."

He changed back into the little Lambo again and I picked him up, handing him to Tsuna.

"Here ya go. Little kids are a pain, but if you have snacks they are easily distracted…Reborn, you have something you want to speak to me about, yes? Then hop on and we'll head to my place."

I felt his weight on my shoulder and headed back home, stopping slightly only to pick up some runaway oranges that a mother had dropped. When we reached my small apartment, I pulled out some coffee for Reborn and myself and we both sat down at opposite ends of my small table.

My apartment didn't have much, as far as furniture goes; a table, all the kitchen and bathroom necessities, and a desk was all it had. My bed consisted of a futon that I had packed away in the closet this morning, and the only entertainment device I had was a laptop sitting on the desk. Reborn didn't seem to mind and he only took interest in his coffee at the moment, until he decided to get down to business.

"Natsu Tachibana, correct?"

"Yep."

"Have any family?"

"Right now? Just an older brother who works and lives in America. He stops by when he can but, he's been busy."

"Parents?"

"None. They died in…a mafia incident."

This obviously shocked Reborn. He hadn't gotten that information when he'd searched me up most likely.

"What happened exactly?"

"Dad was a boss and mom was an assassin hired to kill him. They fell I love and one day she was taken hostage by a rival group. She wanted to protect him and he her, so they were both killed and the group disbanded. My brother and I were lucky and were never introduced to the whole mafia world, kept secret until the end."

We were silent for a while when he spoke up again.

"I saw you in the classroom with Hibari. You have good reflexes."

"Oh yeah. After they died, I was bullied in school since I never told anyone I was deaf. They all though I was ignorant and was ignoring them so they attacked me daily. Needless to say, my overprotective brother began to teach me self defense and other martial arts. So when I'd come home, random objects would be thrown at me, he'd attack me when I'd least expected it, and soon enough I was able to protect myself. Simple as that."

He nodded in silence before putting his cup down and getting up. I'm guessing it was the comment about my parents, but whatever he was so eager to ask me about before seemed to have become less important as I showed him to the door. _Might as well make this right. I can't stand watching someone leave my house depressed...even if he doesn't show it._

"Hey, Reborn! I'll see if I can help you put a bit, but you gotta convince my brother first!"

He smirked and tipped his fedora before practically disappearing. _And if I'm lucky, my brother won't come to Japan to kill the poor kid._


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, since I did get some reviews I have updated! ^^ I thank you reviewers and hope you enjoy this chapter enough to review again. I have the next chapter ready to go, but I still want to hear what you have to say about this chapter. It's a bit hard writing with using hearing and I hope it doesn't get too boring or anything. Anyway, tell me if you love it hate it or anything I need to fix! I'm open to just about anything XD**

* * *

"Well, what the heck am I supposed to do about this?"

I glared down at the paper in front of me that announced Parent Participation Day. Having no parents means I wouldn't have to worry about being embarrassed or nervous, but it also reminds me what happened and how privileged these people are for even having someone there to nag them about simple things.

I was interrupted in my musing by the vibration of my cell phone in my pocket. Pulling it out, I read the text from my brother.

"**I have a surprise for you tomorrow! 3****"**

I shook my head with an amused smile. My brother always acted like an idiot and used those silly emoticons in all his texts. I just wondered why he was coming over for a visit so soon. My eyes immediately widened in realization.

_Reborn!_

* * *

The next day, I was a nervous wreck. Every sudden movement had me flinching and my eyes were darting around for any sign of my brother or Reborn; neither of which would give themselves away until it was too late. Apparently, I was so bad that even Tsuna was glancing at me concerned. Finally, the bell rang and I was able to focus on class. At least, I would've been able to focus if it weren't for the parents in the back of the room making me regret even coming to school today.

_I wonder what Mom and Dad would be doing if they were here?_

"So today is Parent Participation Day. You are all probably very nervous, but relax and act just like you normally do and I will make the same mistakes I always do."

The teacher probably said that to ease up the tension that was hanging in the air, but there were still people fidgeting. The door opened then and another mother walked in; Tsuna's judging by the way he freaked out. I turned away from the door only to feel something coming towards me, fast. Reaching up I caught the keys that had been thrown at my head and turned back around to spot my brother smiling and waving excitedly.

"There's your keys! You forgot them! Oh, and sorry about being late, Natsu-nii!"

I sighed and stared back at the teacher as he began picking on the weak math students; namely Yamamoto, who somehow got the right answer. I yawned as the teacher went after Gokudera, who I knew for a fact was a wiz when it came to math, but when he called on Tsuna I began to worry. I've seen his math homework. It sucked.

"Ah…Okay…"

He was obviously struggling, even though Gokudera was trying to tell him the right answer, when something flew from behind us and hit him in the head. No one but my brother should be behind us and able to throw something with that speed and accuracy. The only issue was, my brother was staring at the elderly lady who just so happened to be missing a shoe.

_Oh man, why is Reborn here? They're gonna kill each other!_

I groaned which was covered up by afro cow and another toddler with a braid over on the teacher's desk. Seems someone besides Tsuna's mom brought them, since she seemed surprised by their arrival as well.

"They wanted to come with me to Hayato's Parent Participation Day with me."

"Bianchi!"

Ah, I remember Bianchi. She was the burgundy haired woman who was trying to eat and run at Yamamoto's sushi place. I nodded in remembrance when suddenly, Gokudera collapsed forcing the teacher to help him to the nurse's office with Bianchi and Tsuna's mother. The adults started murmuring as the students conversed and self-studied. I stared into space as I thought about my own parents: my dad's tough outer appearance contrasting with his gentle personality and my mother's always serious face that became goofy when she used to read me stories with silly fake voices. I immediately realized that Reborn had disguised himself as the substitute teacher and focused on what he was saying.

"Also, whoever gets this question right, will be introduced to a good employment opening in the mafia."

I flinched and glanced at my brother as his shoulders tensed at the word mafia. _That was the worst possible thing to say, Reborn. _I thought as my brother glared in my direction, daring me to answer the problem. Mafia education was some of the best and my brother and I could probably upstage any professor in our favorite subjects (mine: math and history, his: art and science).

Anyway, I debated with myself about what to do. On one hand, I really wanted to help Reborn and on the other, I didn't want to piss off my brother. Just then, the kid who sits in front of Tsuna was knocked out by a piece of chalk. Not seconds later, so was the kid's mother.

"Right, so who knows the answer to this question?"

"Me, meeee!"

There, in the door way was afro cow. I smacked my forehead when he answered "Poo." and Reborn threw a bomb at him. Then Gokudera was back, shouting out the answer but he too was hit with a bomb for 'already being in the mafia'. I knew I wouldn't be able to take much more of this stupidity, so when Tsuna stripped and began yelling, I calmly stood up and headed towards the board.

"Idiots."

I put the chalk down and walked out of the room, leaving behind a shocked group of students, a smirking Reborn, and my ticked off brother. Hopefully everything will be better in a few days.

* * *

I was wrong. ENTIRELY WRONG.

The moment I got home after school a few days later, my brother was sitting at the table laughing with none other than Reborn.

"Caiossu, Natsu!"

"Hey Reborn. I see you managed to get on my brother's good side. So what are you two deciding for me?"

I glared at my brother who shrunk away before begging with puppy dog eyes.

"Reborn said he'd help train you while I'm doing work in the states. I can't let my little sis end up lazy with no one to train her. Please!~"

_I curse whoever invented puppy dog eyes._

"What about you hating the mafia?"

"That's no problem! Reborn's a professional hitman! He'll be able to make you stronger than I ever could have!"

He smiled widely before grabbing his suitcase and heading towards the door. He gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head before running out onto the sidewalk.

"Bye sis!~ I have to go back to the U.S. now! I only came to see you and go to the Parent Day thingy that Reborn told me about."

My left eye twitched and I threw an umbrella at his head, hitting him across the face.

"At least take an umbrella you idiot! It's supposed to rain!"

He nodded and I turned around to find Reborn already gone, along with half my food supply. _Stupid brother! You always come over just to eat all my food!_ I didn't bother with an umbrella, since I really like rain and headed towards the store after locking up my place. The moment I finished, it started pouring for a few minutes, but it let up and I spotted a brown haired kid being chased by a couple of middle schoolers in dark green uniforms.

I grabbed the kid as he tried to run past me and pulled him around the corner into a small side street, covering his mouth so he wouldn't scream and alert the kids to our presence. When they finally ran past our hiding spot, I knelt down to the kid's level and spoke.

"Hey kid, why are those punks chasing you?"

"T-They want to know the r-rankings of the strongest people i-in Namimori."

_Rankings? What the devil-_

"M-My name's Futa. Thank you for helping me."

"Sure thing. I'm Natsu Tachibana."

I ruffled his hair with a small smile and peeked around the corner for his pursuers, but when I turned back around, one of the two students was behind us and the other in front of us. I quickly held Futa close. There was no way I was going to let these two hurt a kid.

"Oh? Look what we have here, byan!"

_Byan?_ I turned toward the other student and glared. He didn't so much as flinch as he spoke to his partner.

"Ken, let's just take the kid and go."

"No freakin' way am I letting you take him. I may not know what this whole thing is about, but I'm not about to sit here and watch someone hurt Futa."

Ken just smirked and reached out, grabbing Futa's arm. I reached into my sleeve and pulled out a switchblade, scratching him across the cheek before he was able to pull back.

"Why you-" The other student held out a hand. "Why are you stopping me, Kakipi? Let me maul the guy!"

The blonde was furious, but 'Kakipi' was as calm as can be. He turned his head towards me and pulled out a…yo-yo? I raised an eyebrow and was distracted enough that I missed what 'Kakipi' was saying as he swung his yo-yo and needles shot out. I was about to dodge, but a shaking in my arms reminded me that I was holding Futa. I took the attack, protecting Futa, and was about to attack in return but my vision was getting foggy and I collapsed; just barely registering the feeling of being tossed over someone's shoulder.

* * *

I woke up with a major headache, tied up on the floor. I glanced around the room and scoffed at the messed up looking place. Everything was rotting and torn; books, desks, and tables were thrown all over the place and the only thing that seemed in tact was a dark green couch sitting in front of a window. A young man sat there and looked like he was saying something, but it was too dark for me to even make out part of what he was saying. He came closer and pulled me up by my hair. He spoke again, but this time when I didn't answer he threw me to the floor and began kicking me hard in the stomach. I coughed violently and glared up at him.

"Hey. If you want me to even freakin' know what you're saying, you have to let some light into this dump. I'm deaf, pineapple head."

He smirked in the dim light and dragged me over to the window so I could see him better.

"Kufufu. You could have mentioned that earlier you know."

"What did you do with Futa?"

"Oh? Should you really be worrying about the kid instead of yourself?"

It was my turn to smirk as the ropes fell to the ground and I pulled out multiple knives from my sleeves and attacked the man. Attack after attack, he dodged every single one and when I finally did manage to scratch him, he attacked viciously. I dodged most of them as well, but he hit me hard in the side and I flew into the wall beside me.

"See? This is what I was talking about. Idiots like you who always worry about others are weak. Ken, why don't you deal with this one and see if you can get any information out of him."

I spit out some blood and threw one of my knives at the man's head, missing his face by centimeters.

"Sorry to disappoint you, sadistic pineapple head, but I don't even know what's going on. The only reason I'm even here is because I felt like helping a little kid who seemed to be in trouble. No if you don't mind, I think I'll take him and leave."

I headed over to the small closet I spotted in our fight and reached out to grab Futa's hand, until I was yanked away and thrown back into Mr. Sadistic. I felt his voice rumbling in his chest as he turned my head to face him painfully.

"Now, now. What is this? The prince is actually a princess?"

He smirked as he leaned closer and squeezed my injured side, causing me to hiss in pain. Then, suddenly Hibari was standing in the doorway. Him and Mukuro (Ken just shouted his name) began talking, but I couldn't make it out as Mukuro reached up to my throat. Hibari scowled and his tonfas grew spikes as I was roughly shoved into the couch, where Ken grabbed me and tied me tightly to a chair.

_Today officially sucks._


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, here you go! Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter ^^ i personally enjoyed writing how Natsu gets along with Tsuna oh, and tell me if there's anyone you think she should get with and why. right now i have no idea and although it's early on, it's still nice to hear what you think so far.**

* * *

I must have passed out at some point, because I was woken up when someone knocked my chair to the floor. I hit the floor hard and pain traveled up my left arm that was pinned under the chair.

"Ufufu. It seems you had fallen asleep during my performance. I just wanted to wake you up so you could enjoy the rest of the show, and answer a few questions of course…What do you know about the Vongola Family?"

"Vongola? Is that some kind of pasta or something?"

I was kicked for that answer and my side burned as breathing began to get difficult. Mukuro had probably broken a few of my ribs, but he didn't seem to care as he dragged me towards the window where I saw Tsuna stop a giant metal ball. I was surprised that Tsuna had so much strength, but when I looked around, I saw all the others unconscious on the ground, injured.

"The Arcobaleno fired a special bullet."

"But, if it is the last one, then they've fallen for our trap. Now we're a step closer to completing our plan for the Vongola's 10th boss."

I watched as Tsuna was beaten by the man outside and I felt useless being forced to sit and watch this. I did feel slightly relived when Tsuna was okay, but the guy with the spiky ball was suddenly taken out by the beanie wearing guy next to me. I was shocked that Mukuro would be willing to take out his comrade and I knocked my chair over accidentally and glared at him.

"Fufu. This is what happens in this world, princess. Of course, you wouldn't know about the horrors of the mafia."

"I know more than you would think…"

He turned towards me slightly surprised.

"Oh? Enlighten me."

"Nemu Tachibana. Ring any bells?" His eyes narrowed as I continued. "He was my father. Him and my mother were killed by another mafia group and my brother and I were left on our own…So yeah, I think I know enough."

He smirked and sent beanie head away, before untying me from the chair and tossing me to the floor in front of his couch. I was still somewhat tied up and couldn't do much as he sat down and shoved his foot down on my side over and over again until finally stopping. I felt another presence and assumed that Mukuro was talking to whoever it was. The he suddenly kicked me and rolled me over, to see Tsuna, Reborn, and Bianchi looking at me in shock.

"Natsu! W-What are you doing here?"

"I had a run in with a kid called Futa. Turns out I was interesting enough to be dragged here by Mr. pineapple head over there."

He kicked me in the back for the nickname and I spotted Futa standing behind Tsuna, but something was wrong. Tsuna turned around and suddenly, Futa pulled out a weapon and stabbed Bianchi. Futa started attacking Tsuna and I addressed Mukuro.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

Mukuro just laughed and I struggled to get out of the ropes to help Tsuna before Futa killed him. I found a piece of glass under me and I began cutting through the ropes as Tsuna somehow stopped Futa. All of a sudden, Tsuna got pissed and charged at Mukuro. I doubted that Tsuna could take him if Hibari couldn't and the moment Mukuro passed him, Tsuna was on his knees with multiple wounds. They began talking about something, but I couldn't make it out and focused on getting untied.

It was then I noticed that Mukuro was showing off his 'powers'. The first one was an illusion of the building falling apart. I was partially numb to it though, because the pain of the glass cutting into my palm kept my mind in the reality. The third one summoned poisonous snakes and I finally managed to cut through the ropes, but Tsuna was saved by Hibari and Gokudera.

"Heh, nice to see your alive, Hibari."

I coughed up blood as I forced myself to sit up, catching Mukuro's attention but only for a split second as Hibari attacked Mukuro. Everything was going pretty well, until Hibari's wounds reopened and cherry blossoms appeared.

_Well, that isn't good. Illusions or not, Hibari is weak to cherry blossoms._

At least that's what I thought until Hibari attacked Mukuro. I glanced at Reborn who pointed to the medicine bag Gokudera was holding and then Mukuro and Hibari collapsed.

"It's all over."

Although that's what I believed Reborn said, but I had this pain in my stomach that made me think other wise. Movement out of the corner of my eye made me turn and watch as Mukuro shot himself, but I still had this bad feeling. I struggled to stand, using the couch to hold me up when suddenly, Bianchi stood and attacked Gokudera and Reborn. A quick glance at her face told me this wasn't Bianchi.

"Mukuro. Tsuna, that's Mukuro!"

"What?"

I thought it was amusing when Gokudera started doing a ward against evil spirits, but then he started acting weird too. _This isn't right. How was he able to get Bianchi and Gokudera? Wait…the trident!_

I looked around for the trident and spotted it at Bianchi's feet. I rushed over to grab it, but Gokudera was faster and tried to get me with it as well, but I dodged.

"Oh? Have you figured it out already? You are quite perceptive, Natsu."

"Tsuna…the trident…don't get hit by it or you'll be possessed too."

I gripped my side and took labored breaths as Mukuro possessed Hibari only to drop him and take over Bianchi, Gokudera, Ken, and Chikusa; who'd just entered the room and attacked Reborn. I too had to dodge attacks from Bianchi when I noticed a change in the red eye. The symbol changed to the character for 2.

"Tsuna! Careful! He's using another power!"

I dodged her poison cooking while Reborn dodged needles. Tsuna, being the hopeless kid that he is, was hit by Gokudera's dynamite. Suddenly, the floor was bubbling and lava poured out. I stumbled to Tsuna who was freaking out and I explained that this was an illusion just as Reborn was hit by dynamite.

"Reborn!"

His hat flew out, but he got it back and claimed that he couldn't help anymore.

"You have to act, Tsuna, Natsu, and quickly."

"He's right Tsuna. Mukuro is just using their bodies. They still have their wounds and I have mine. We won't last in a drawn out fight."

I dodged a set of bombs, but my left arm was hit with a barrage of needles and I was kicked against a wall next to Reborn. Coughing up more blood, I spotted Bianchi and Gokudera getting closer to Tsuna and talking.

"Can you really afford to worry about others? You're about to die."

"You and that girl are pretty interesting people, but hardly Mafia material."

"Tsuna…Don't listen to them…He said the same thing to me, but worrying about others is the best thing to do in this situation…They give you strength."

I forced myself to stand, noticing Reborn's smirk out of the corner of my eye. Tsuna couldn't give up here, so I undid the dress shirt I was wearing to show the multitude of throwing knives I had over my tank top. Grabbing a handful, I turned back around to Tsuna once more.

"Fight Tsuna, and I'll be your strength. Now tell me what you want to do!"

"I want to beat Mukuro…I want to take him down!"

I threw a bundle of knives and distracted the opposing group when Leon surprisingly flew up and glowed. Ken managed to get out of my range and attacked Leon, but two gloves dropped on Tsuna's head. Something was also tossed in my direction and I caught hold of it before it collided with the side of my head. I stuffed it away in my pocket for the moment just before Tsuna plowed into me.

"Tsuna…Get off me."

He mumbled something and pulled out a small bullet from the inside of his gloves. My eyes widened and I took it from Tsuna to toss it to Reborn, but Mukuro began interfering. Luckily, he was fooled by Leon and I managed to pass it to the real Reborn when Tsuna glanced up in fear. I didn't have to look up at that point to see the dynamite that surrounded us and I quickly protected Tsuna from them, something scraping my shoulder in the process.

The smoke cleared and Tsuna had enough strength to glance up and see me hovering over him, severely injured, but smiling. My arm gave out and I fell in front of him, reaching up to pat his surprisingly soft head of hair.

"Heh, you can't give up yet…Everyone needs you, Dame-Tsuna."

My arm fell to the ground and I forced myself to stay awake. Tsuna stood up and knocked out Chikusa and Ken. I could only watch as Tsuna took out Gokudera and Bianchi and brought them over to Reborn. He then came over to me and picked me up.

"I'm sorry, Natsu."

He laid me down next to the other two and told Reborn to take care of us. Reborn patched up the others and when he got to me I spoke.

"R-Reborn…my brother's gonna kill you…"

"Hm. Only if he finds out."

I tried to laugh, but my ribs were broken and Reborn quickly put a hand on my shoulder.

"You need to relax, Natsu. Don't worry about Dame-Tsuna."

"He's not the one I'm worried about…"

It was then that my vision went black; my fingers barely touching the small ring in my pocket.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the wait! I had college finals, but now that I'm finally finished with school till fall, I'll update more frequently ^^ Please review!**

* * *

It's been over a month since the whole incident with Mr. Pineapple head and all my wounds had finally healed. The moment my brother heard what had happened, he returned to give Reborn and I an earful. What I couldn't understand, was how Reborn managed to NOT get yelled at? I mean, I may be deaf and all, but I could practically _feel_ my brother's voice throughout my body when he yelled at me. Of course, I couldn't understand a word my brother said _because _he was yelling, but I got what he was telling me. I'm just glad he went home that night. I wouldn't be able to stand him yelling for much longer.

Currently, I was sitting in my living room on the floor typing away on my laptop as I tried to get some more information on Reborn and Gokudera. I wasn't getting much luck, as far as Reborn goes, but for Gokudera I had what I needed.

"Let's see…Smokin' Bomb Hayato: born September 9th, uses dynamite, blood type B, I don't care about his height and weight…and I found out his grades a while back after I first met him. Not much here, but more than what I got for Reborn. All I got about him is that he's a hitman and a tutor who likes to shoot people."

I sighed and pulled a hand through my hair, closing the window of information and erasing any evidence that I was searching for info. I had already looked up the others as well as their family and they seemed normal enough, aside from Tsuna's father who I couldn't get much info on either. I decided that now would be a good chance to get some sleep, but when I glanced at the time on my laptop I discovered that I stayed up into the next day and I had just enough time to get to school for prep classes.

"Are you serious? Great."

_I really have to stop talking to myself._ I thought as I got ready for school. Just as I pulled on my shoes, I opened the door and was greeted by Reborn sitting on Yamamoto's shoulder.

"Caiossu."

"Yo! You wanna come with us? We're going to have some fun!"

I cocked my head to the side before throwing my bag back into the house.

"Sure."

It wasn't long before we met up with the others and were walking down the road, eventually splitting up due to Lambo's disappearance. I thought about following Tsuna as he chased after Lambo, but decided against it and walked with Reborn to go get a drink. He tugged on my pants at one point on our way back and I turned to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"I heard you were looking up information about me."

"What about it? I think I deserve to know who I'll be working with. One can never be too prepared."

"Hm." Smirking, he continued. "What'd you get from Leon?"

"Oh, that? It's a ring of some sort. It's just a straight black color with a red line going through it. Here, look."

I reached in my shirt and pulled off the chain I had attached it to, so I wouldn't lose it. Reborn jumped on my shoulder to look at it, but didn't say anything as far as I could tell as I started walking back to where Tsuna was with Lambo, Kyoko, and that Chinese kid I still hadn't gotten a name for. Suddenly, I felt a rumble in the ground and Reborn handed the ring back. I had a bad feeling about something and hurried over to where Tsuna was, now being helped up by a brown haired kid with flames on his forehead. Reborn hopped off my shoulder as I began trying to figure out what was going on.

"Um, Reborn? Being deaf has its disadvantages, like _not knowing what is going on._"

Of course Reborn, being the amazingly helpful baby hitman that he is, completely ignored me as the brown haired kid ran off with Tsuna. Thinking the worst, I followed, clutching the ring I had in my palm as I yelled at the kid.

"Hey! Tsuna! What's he doing?"

Tsuna turned around and began shouting something at me, but people haven't learned yet that I can't understand them when they do that. I groaned and nearly ran into Tsuna and the kid when someone landed right in front of them.

He too was an odd character. Other than the fact that he'd just jumped off a building and landed without harm, he had quite the hair; being pure white in color and extremely long for a guy…_He is a guy, right?_ I shook off the thought, and kept my eye on the girly man in case Tsuna and the kid needed help.

"And, who are these guys?" The man crouched and I saw him get ready to charge, using that chance to get in front of both Tsuna and the kid. I held out my hand in front of me and was going to reach for one of my hidden knives when the palm of my hand began to glow; more specifically, the ring in my hand. Metal clashed with metal as the man's sword was blocked by a set of black tekagi-shuko that now covered my hand and wrist. The girly man didn't seem too happy that I blocked him and even when he put more pressure on the blade, I only moved back a few inches.

"Voi! You're pretty good for a brat, but tell me your relationship with this kid or I'll slice you to pieces!"

I was a bit surprised I could even make out what he was saying, what with half of it being yells, but responded back with a monotone expression.

"I'm sorry, but my brother told me never to speak to girly men with long hair."

He began yelling all sorts of things as he slashed at me with his sword, putting even more pressure behind each swing. I would've done fine, if not for the brown haired kid interfering. He had thrown something in my peripheral vision and it caught me off guard, giving girly man a chance to slice me across my stomach and toss me into a nearby window. My vision swam for a moment and I felt violent vibrations from the ground again. The brown haired kid pulled me out of the wreckage, hurt pretty bad himself and spoke to me.

"Are thou okay?"

"I've been better…but you really shouldn't throw things in my peripheral vision. I get easily distracted, um…"

"Basil, but now is not the time for thou to ask questions. We need to help them!"

Yet another explosion shook the earth and I sat up painfully just as Yamamoto fell to the ground and Gokudera was taken out as well. Covering my wound I struggled to stand, but Basil beat me to it and began an intense battle with the sword wielding man. I began looking around for Tsuna, finding him yelling at…_Is that Reborn? Why is he dressed as a potted plant?_

I didn't have time to think about that when Reborn shot Tsuna, who suddenly stripped and stopped girly man from killing Basil. Forcing myself up, I headed to Reborn and leaned against the soda machine as Tsuna fought.

"Hey…I can hold him off for a bit if you need it."

"Hm. I may need you to. This is getting bad."

I nodded, reaching into one of my pockets and pulling out a box of pocky. I nibbled on the end of one to try and ease my nervousness and figure out where the tekagi-shuko came from, when my hair was blown in my face from a series of explosions. Snapping my pocky stick I grumbled.

"Che, men. Everything has to be an explosion to them."

I walked lazily out from my place, hoping to buy more time for Tsuna and Basil, where ever they went to. Of course, he was more than eager to fight me.

"Voi! I'm going to chop you to bits for callin' me girly!"

As we exchanged blows, I rolled my eyes.

"You know, I wouldn't be calling you girly if you'd just give me your name. Seriously, the last guy did the same thing so I called him Mr. Pineapple head majority of the time. Also, it's very hard to understand you when you're yelling all the time."

"What? You deaf or somethin'!"

"Yes, actually. Thanks for noticing…girly."

I smirked as he yelled more obscenities when he suddenly kicked me in the stomach and went to cut me across the face. My eyes widened and I swiftly brought up my arms, but I wasn't able to block it completely with the tekagi-shuko and it sliced deeply through my left arm and shoulder. Grabbing me, the man threw me into a set of tables that Tsuna and Basil had apparently been hiding behind. I gripped my bleeding arm, noticing that the tekagi-shuko had changed back into a ring, and painfully glared at the man as Tsuna freaked out about my injuries. Next thing I know, some blonde headed guy with a whip steps up, surrounded by men in black.

"You're just like always, Superbi Squalo. Isn't it embarrassing being so rough on kids?"

_Squalo? Is that the girly man's name? And who's he calling a kid? I was doing fine until I got distracted by Basil's boomerang thing!_ I must've been more distracted than I though, because suddenly there were more explosions and smoke covered the scene. The blonde guy quickly came over to us and began asking if we were okay before he turned abruptly to Squalo, who was carrying a small box. It seemed extremely important to Basil, but we were all too injured to chase after Squalo. Just then, Reborn popped up out of nowhere once again clad in his suit and fedora.

"It's too dangerous to chase him."

Pointing a pocky stick at him I questioned him.

"What happened to your plant costume? And what's with girly man and blondie?"

"I'll tell you about Squalo later, but this is Dino, also known as Bucking Horse Dino of the Chiavarone Famiglia."

"Oh…Well, nice to meet ya, Dino."

"Haha, you too! You really held you own against Squalo. I'm impressed!"

I nodded as Tsuna freaked out yet again and Dino supported Basil. Seems they had a hospital ready for him and me as well, since Reborn ordered Tsuna to help me out. Gokudera and Yamamoto ran up then and Reborn said something while facing away from me. Whatever it was, they were obviously upset about it and we left them to go get Basil and I fixed up. Reaching for another pocky stick, I shoved one in Tsuna's mouth.

"They'll be fine Tsuna. Stop worrying. If anything, they get stronger from this. You know how they are."

He turned to me and smiled gently, mumbling something that I was guessing was "I guess you're right." I chuckled at how cute his face was right now. Wait, did I say cute? I meant…Oh look! Pocky!


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, it's time for the Varia arc and the intense training that goes along with it ^^ I hope you enjoy it and review so I know what you think about the whole thing. _My _favorite part was the ending ;)**

**TheKawaiiStar21: I am _highly considering_ making this a TsunaxOC story so yeah, it's probably heading in that direction.**

**Hayate The Soul Reaper: I'm glad you liked the ending of the last chapter, since I had fun writing it! Also, I'm not too sure about _what_ exactly the ring's significance is at the moment since, when I wrote it, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Also, (I totally apologize for this) I didn't actually notice that I named her after Tsuna's box weapon animal until someone else mentioned it and, until we get up to that point, I don't know what will happen as far as him naming his box weapon. Sorry if it's not a very helpful answer, but this is how I write and almost everything is a spur of the moment decision ^^  
**

**And now I'm rambling...anyway, ignore me and continue reading please~  
**

* * *

It wasn't long before my wounds were healed enough to move about and I headed home from the hospital. Just as I closed the door, I had to dodge a set of kitchen knives as well as a tackled from my one and only brother.

"Nii-san, what are you doing here?"

Getting up off the floor, he grabbed my face with a scowl and began looking me up and down before a devilish smirk appeared on his face._ I don't like that look._

"You've been neglecting your training, sis. Well, I guess it's a good thing I got the next week and a half off~ We're going _camping_."

"You can't be serious…"

My eyes widened, remembering what happened the last time we went camping. The destruction of that forest was catastrophic. And to think, the fire was caused by my brother's failed cooking. _It was so bad; the bears attacked our camp just to get rid of the smell._ I didn't have much of a choice though, so I headed past my brother to start packing when he grabbed my wrist. Turning around, I glared at him.

"What?"

"It's not just ordinary camping. It's _survival training_."

Suddenly, I was blindfolded and a chloroform covered cloth covered my mouth forcing me to pass out; all the while wondering how I was related to this crackpot of a brother.

* * *

I woke up, pissed. _That damn brother of mine is going to get it when-_ Cutting off my own thoughts, I found myself in a forest with a note in the pocket of my jeans.

_Dear sis,_

_Your mission if you chose to accept (although you don't have a choice) is to find me within this expanse of forest. You must survive without anything except for the clothes on your back (I made sure to take away everything you had) and you will receive hints along the way. Your first hint:_

_Storm the castle surrounded by the moat._

_Signed, Your brother_

_P.S. you looked so cute when you were sleeping XD_

I growled and check myself, discovering that I literally had nothing to work with before trying to figure out the clue. Hoping I could see where I was at, at least, I climbed the nearest tree to discover that I was maybe a day's walk from what appeared to be a large cliff.

Deciding that was my best chance, I headed in that direction picking up a large stick, a couple of rocks, and several half dead plants. I braided the plants to make a rope, shoving that into my pocket before scraping the two rocks together. By the time the sun had gone down, I had managed to make a spear and found a nice tree to situate myself in for the night.

The next morning, I check below me for any food and spotted a young warthog. Smirking, I jumped out of the tree and chased it, soon killing it with the spear and roasting it on a fire I'd made. Of course, lucky me attracted a large bear with the smell of food and, after several painful attempts to get it to leave; I ditched the food before I could so much as take a bite.

Heading out again, I ended up at the cliff to finding a river traveling around it. _This must be the moat and castle thing. Now all I have to do is 'storm' it._ Glancing up, I groaned. It was a long way up and my stomach just reminded me I'd had nothing to eat with the bear taking my breakfast. Glancing down at my torn clothes and cuts, I headed to the river and hopped in, cleaning myself for the most part as well as waiting with my spear to catch some fish. I had just caught one and roasted it on the bank next to the cliff when something, or someone, came out of no where and began climbing the cliff shouting. Fish poised in front of my mouth, I shook my head before taking a large bite.

"I don't even want to know."

Next thing I know, the baby faced hitman is standing in front of me with a fake mustache.

"Caiossu. What are you doing here, Natsu?"

Glancing down at the fish and back at him, I answered with an unamused expression.

"Eating fish."

He glared at me and I rolled my eyes.

"My brother knocked me out and left me here saying something about survival training. I'm supposed to find him and survive without any equipment. Happy? 'Cause I'm sure as hell not."

I went back to eating my fish and when I finished, I started heading towards the cliff. Part way up, I saw Tsuna begin to fall past me so I grabbed him, stabbing my makeshift spear into the rocks to help me hold both our weight. I grit my teeth against the pain that traveled up my arm and slowly made my way back down to solid ground with Tsuna. When we reached the ground, he suddenly hugged me around the waist.

"Thank you so much, Natsu! I thought I was going to die! I'm so glad you're here!…You don't have a ring, do you?"

I gave him an odd look and glanced at Reborn for an explanation, which I didn't receive.

"No. She's here for her own personal training, Dame-Tsuna."

They continued talking for a bit as I turned around to go back up the cliff, unable to hear or notice the conversation down below had changed to me.

* * *

"Well, this is just the beginning of the training."

"I-I don't care about all that! Besides, my body is crumbling due to muscle pains! I can't go through this!"

"Natsu is nearly halfway up and it's only taken her a few moments, even with her injuries as well as lack of nutrition."

"Wha?"

Turning around, Tsuna looked up and stared wide eyed at Natsu, noticing the sweat collecting on her brow and the determined look she had as she continued to climb. She lost her footing at one point and Tsuna couldn't help but suck in a breath, watching as she hung from one arm before swinging around and grabbing the rock again. _Wait, Reborn said injuries, what is he-_ Looking again, Tsuna realized that Natsu was keeping most of her weight away off of her left arm. _That was the arm she caught me with…and lack of nutrition…has she not been eating?_

Reborn's fedora shadowed his face, the smirk on his lips barely visible as he watched Tsuna's determination underneath his obvious worry. _With Natsu around, my job seems to be slightly easier._


	6. Chapter 6

**I think I forgot to mention this, but I have a poll on my profile about a new story and I hope you guys vote ^^ but that's besides the point. Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it and review~**

* * *

Tsuna had finally climbed up the steep cliff and he felt cheated in a way, seeing as Reborn wanted him to fight Basil as part 2 of his intensive training. Shaking his glove covered hands back and forth, Tsuna could only beg for his life, hoping Basil would stop.

"Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! I can't. I can't. I'll die!"

Basil seemed confused momentarily but Reborn somehow managed to encourage him and, just as Tsuna was about to retort, a figure ran out into the clearing; being chased by what appeared to be a very large, very _angry_ bear.

"How is bare-knuckle boxing with a bear going to do anything? And where the hell did you find a tub of gravy in the middle of nowhere?"

Tsuna, Basil, and Reborn all watched as the figure dodged swipe after swipe of the bear's claws before punching the beast square in the nose. Suddenly, Tsuna gasped. He didn't notice before, but the figure was actually Natsu…covered in gravy. A chuckling came from his right and he turned to find someone he didn't recognize.

The man was young with short, cropped auburn hair and a big smile on his face that reminded Tsuna of a certain baseball fanatic. His eyes were a bright green and shone with amusement as he continued to chuckle before shouting at Natsu.

"The gravy's my own recipe! Made it while you were climbing the cliff, sis!"

Glaring at the man, Natsu barely had time to summersault out of the way of another attack.

"No wonder this thing's coming after me! It's trying to kill me to get rid of the smell!"

"I thought you liked my cooking!"

"I only like it when you don't cook!"

The man started bawling and Tsuna couldn't help but sweat drop at the man's act. It was then Reborn decided to interrupt.

"Would you rather be fighting a bear, Dame-Tsuna? I'm sure Mr. Tachibana has some left over gravy."

"Eeeehhhh?"

"Go ahead Basil."

Next thing Tsuna knows, he's been punched into a wall with a single thought floating around his head. _That's Natsu's brother?_

* * *

It took a while, but by sundown I had managed to take down the bear and turned my gaze to my stupid brother, Shiro. Needless to say, he paled and began running only for me to tackle him like a pro football player and straddle his stomach with a maniacal grin.

"Hello _brother._"

"Eheh, I-I'm sorry?"

Everything kind of stopped around us as Reborn, Basil, and Tsuna turned to watch.

"Sorry? For what? The cliff? The pitfalls? The bear? The gravy? The _monkeys_? Oh-ho, I think we're _way_ past a simple apology."

I pulled the rope out of my pocket and tied him up, gagging him, and hanging him upside-down from a nearby tree. I then stripped him down to his blue banana boxers and smothered him in the bananas I knew were in his pocket from the monkey incident. He looked at me alarmed and began shaking his head back in forth, freezing when he heard the nearby chattering of monkeys. Patting his cheek, I smiled innocently.

"Have fun~"

I turned around and began walking back to where the others were just as Tsuna went to yell at Reborn.

"I've had enough! I want to go home!"

"What are you saying? We have no time for-"

Reborn was interrupted by the growling of his stomach and immediately turned towards me.

"Let's go home for dinner. You can come too, Natsu. I'm sure Nana won't mind."

"Cool."

My vision spun for a moment and I put a hand up to my head, noticing Reborn give me a look. I shook it off and soon we were on our way to Tsuna's house when I realized, with a frown, that I wouldn't be able to hear my brother's screams. The person on my left tapped my shoulder and I looked quizzically at Tsuna.

"You okay? You looked upset about something."

"Yup. I realized that I won't be able to hear my brother screaming for mercy when the monkeys find him."

Tsuna paled and I couldn't help but laugh, his shocked face changing to a small smile when I turned back around. It wasn't long before we reached Tsuna's house and my eyes darted around, trying to take in everything I could; entrances, exits, possible escape route, the usual._ Then again, maybe that survival training has me paranoid_.

"I'm hom-"

"Welcome back~!"

I looked in the entrance to find Iemitsu Sawada sitting on the step wearing construction gear. Thinking back, I remembered that I know absolutely nothing about him so it was impossible for him to just be a normal construction worker. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and watched for any flaw that could give me insight on who he really is. It helped that I could visually see what he was saying to Reborn.

"I got my information from my agent in the main land, so there's no mistake."

_Agent…So he's in the mafia? Most likely friends with the Vongola since he's friendly with Reborn and has no qualms about Tsuna becoming the next boss. That would be part of the reason why I got no info on him…But the other half…he must be in a more covert group as well to hide this so much about himself._

I began paying attention again when Tsuna began talking with him, also discovering that he was Basil's master. Taking this in, I realized that I should see what I could dig up about Basil too and that may help me with the mysterious Iemitsu. It was then I noticed Tsuna was sitting on the floor and Iemitsu was heading to the door, stopping to look at me with a serious expression. Locking eyes with him, I studied his brown eyes for anything that could give him away when he smiled and patted my head, causing me to cringe slightly. He turned to Tsuna then and gave him a thumbs up, leaving us all shocked with two final words.

"I approve."

I felt heat creep up my face, putting a hand to my head as I fell to the ground due to hunger and embarrassment. Tsuna, on the other hand was doing no better, flailing about yelling something with a blush spreading across his cheeks. I groaned and felt Reborn tug on my torn jeans. Looking up, I watched what he had to say.

"Nana should be making dinner now. Dame-Tsuna and I'll take care of the Varia, so-"

"Don't even _try _to get me to stay here, Reborn. I climbed a cliff with torn muscles, survived on nothing but a single fish for days, fought off two bears and a pack of rabid monkeys, and you expect me to sit here and do nothing? I seriously need to take my pent up rage out on something and this looks like the perfect chance."

I grinned and he lowered his fedora with a matching grin before turning to Tsuna and saying something I didn't catch. I had no idea who we were going after or who we were going to fight, but I had a feeling girly-man was there and I couldn't wait to beat the crap out of him.

* * *

Meanwhile, the only thing Tsuna could think was, _Eeeehhhh! Natsu can be really scary!_


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm super glad everyone enjoyed Iemitsu's little bit there and we may never know what happened to Shiro and the monkeys...more importantly, here is the next chapter! i hope it's not too rushed, but whatever. oh, and happy fourth of july! (even though it's technically the fifth now) ^^**

* * *

Running from Tsuna's house with an empty stomach was a horrid idea. Hopefully, the couple of suckers I found lying around should give me enough energy later should I need it. We had already ran into Kyoko and Haru who'd informed us about Lambo, I-pin, and Futa which only put me in more of a hurry. Those kids had really connected with me despite their obviously faults, and there was no way girly-man or anyone else was going to take them away from me.

Needless to say, I ran fast than I thought possible in my condition, dragging Tsuna with me while Reborn sat on my shoulder talking to him. Although I couldn't read what they were saying whatever it was had Tsuna freaking out, but none of that mattered when I rounded the corner and spotted the three kids running from a black cloaked man wielding a saber, fencing-like sword.

I released Tsuna's hand, just barely realizing that I'd grabbed that in our hurry to reach the kids, and was about to dash over there as the man attacked. I was about a third of the way there, knowing that I was not going to make it, when something knocked the man away.

"Vongola Famiglia's guardian of the sun and Colonnello's best disciple Ryohei Sasagawa, is here!"

I didn't recognize this guy at all, being the first time I met him and swiftly took in everything I could; from his wrapped hands to the scar on his left eyebrow. _Obviously a boxer and one of the extreme type judging by the wrappings and sheer mass. Guy must constantly work out._ Unfortunately, I was a bit distracted until a movement flashed a bit off to the right and another cloaked man jumped from a nearby tree. He too was knocked down and a third was blown up as Gokudera and Yamamoto showed up.

"Geeze, why does the dumb cow have a ring."

"You guys are safe now."

_Ring? I'll have to ask reborn later._ Shaking off my thoughts as Tsuna ran past, I stepped out of my defensive stance and headed over to the kids, still keeping an eye out for more attackers. One can never be too careful. Kneeling down to I-pin, I check the small wounds on her head with a frown.

"You should be more careful. Nana will be sad if you come home hurt, you know."

She nodded looking sad for a moment, but I smiled and pat her on the head before glancing back towards Tsuna to find Lambo rolling on the floor. With a sigh, I stood and picked him up staring at him with a monotone expression as he stared back. We stayed like that for a few silent moments, everyone around us trying to figure out what was going on, when Lambo spoke.

"I'm hungry~! Piggy back~!"

I rolled my eyes, hating myself for this, and reached in my pocket and pulled out one of the lollipops I'd found at Tsuna's house. They were probably his anyway, but whatever.

"You want it?"

"Uh-huh!"

"What do you say?"

It took him a while to say the simple 'please', having to go through his tantrums and him repeating over and over again 'Give it to Lambo' 'Lambo wants it', but I eventually gave it to him and reluctantly handed the other two to I-pin and Futa, leaving me with none. They took them, glancing at me to make sure it was okay but hey, what can I say? They really grow on you…Like parasites…but in a good way!

Suddenly though, I felt someone nearby and announced that someone was here moments before Reborn could and a few minutes before the man revealed himself. He was an odd character too, not surprising since he must be friends with girly-man, but still.

He carried maybe eight of those saber swords and had extremely spiky black hair. He also seemed to really like belts too, and the chain that connected his lip to his eyebrow had me wondering if all girly-man's friends were like this. Chuckling slightly to myself, I muttered something under my breath that Reborn must've heard since he snickered as well.

"Kinky man plays with belts~ I'll call him Kinks."

I soon stopped my laughter though, when he began reaching for his swords only to find more people jumping down to meet him. Looking at them, I realized that girly-man _did_ have a lot of weird friends. Pointing to each of them, I spoke out loud if only to rid the area of the tension.

"Gay Peacock." The man in the fur rimmed coat and odd haircut. "Smokey the Bear" The huge guy with the gas mask. "Prison Prince." The kid with a crooked crow and striped shirt. "Kinks." Of course. "Bell Baby." The baby looking kid with a bell-shaped head.

All eyes turned to me, either murderous glares or shock, when someone I recognized showed up in front of them all.

"Voi! How dare you trick me you piece of trash!"

"Girly-man!~ I missed you so much!~"

He began yelling at me so _excitedly_ that I couldn't understand a word he said, so I just smiled and waved a little as his buddies snickered in the background about his nickname. Apparently they approved of his and completely disregarded their own, so I guessed they liked them. Finally, he seemed to calm down a smidge and looked around our group.

"Which of you wields the ring of rain?"

Someone stepped forward next to me, who I discovered to be Yamamoto. Glancing back and forth between the two, I noticed the little sparks made when their gazes clashed and promptly took a step back to watch the show with Reborn and Tsuna, who was freaking out _again_.

I took an undignified plop on the ground as the guys up there shoved each other around and a new face came out from the back. He looked pretty strange too, with the scars covering his face and the fox tail and feathers hanging from the side of his head, but he was normal compared to the others. Nudging Tsuna's leg, he bent down and I questioned him.

"What do you think, Fox-tail or Scar Face?"

Turning to him I caught him mid-EEIIIII? And suddenly felt something heading in my direction, easily leaning slightly to the right as a sword pinned itself in the ground centimeters from my nose. Looking up with a raised eyebrow, I stared bored at Fox-tail and ignored his deadly expression.

"_What did you call me?_"

"Fox-tail. Unless you prefer Scar Face."

The look he sent our way had Tsuna falling to the ground and the others frozen in fear. Even I had to admit, my heart skipped a beat, but I've dealt with similar looks before. It was then his eyes caught Tsuna's and he raised his hand as it began to glow. Feeling the power from where I was, I stood quickly and took my place in front of Tsuna with a quick look at Reborn.

"This is bad! Run!"

Facing Fox-tail again I frowned as the tekagi-shuko appeared on my hand, speaking to Reborn in a confident voice.

"I'm not leaving them here frozen in fear, Reborn. I don't want to lose those close to me again."

"_Die._"

I tensed, but a flash in my peripherals had me relaxing somewhat as a pickax landed before Fox-tail and stopped his attack. Iemitsu finally showed up and with reinforcements as well. Realizing that I wasn't quite needed at the moment, I sat on the ground next to the three kids as my weapon disappeared again. Things were starting to blur for me; exhaustion, hunger, and just plain laziness keeping me from focusing on what was being said. A small tug on my sleeve kind of woke me up a bit and I turned to find Futa, not tugging on my sleeve, but shaking with his fist gripping it tightly.

_These idiots. Leaving kids here just hoping they won't know what's going on. They're smarter than they look. Even I remember the ignorant adults who thought I wouldn't understand what my parent's line of work was or what really happened to them. Fools._ I pulled the three of them on my lap and ruffled Futa's hair, smiling and rubbing his back in a comforting manner.

"Don't worry. They'll be fine, I'll make sure of it, okay?"

Futa smiled back at me, still a bit nervous, but I'm not good with comforting. It wasn't long before Lambo and I-pin were asleep in my arms, Futa trying not to but failing. The only part I had managed to catch of the conversation was the last of it.

"Those with the same rings will have a one-on-one battle."

I couldn't help but wonder though. _Just where was my part in all of this?_ My eyes slowly slid closed and my breathing matched the three children in my arms as I fell into a restful sleep.

* * *

Tsuna couldn't believe what had just happened in the span of a few minutes. Not only was his dad part of the mafia and had pushed the fact that he wanted _him_ of all people to be the tenth generation boss, but now his friends were being dragged into this and could rotationally be in a lot of danger! _I can't do this? What if they get hurt? Not only that, but I could die! Any one of us could die! Gokudera, Yamamoto, Lambo, even…Natsu…_

With that thought, Tsuna realized how quiet it had been without her comments and funny nicknames for the group they were to fight. Looking around, he began to get worried that something had happened to her when he spotted her bright red-orange hair peaking up beneath Lambo, I-pin, and Futa. Coming closer as quiet as he could, he realized that all four of them were sleeping peacefully and just how calm Natsu looked without the bored expression she always put up. Tsuna smiled lightly to himself at the sight, when a small, squeaky voice spoke up from next to him.

"So she does sleep…Tsuna, we need to get them home. You carry them."

"Eh? All of them?"

Tsuna's friend heard this and came over; Gokudera ranting about how he should carry one to help his precious judaime and Yamamoto taking the other two kids, leaving Tsuna with Natsu since Ryohei had headed home. A small blush lit up his cheeks, but he picked her up and carried her all the way to his house, trying to keep the heat in his face down to a minimum before Reborn got any ideas.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the long wait! I had a major writer's slump and couldn't write _anything_. But here's the next chapter! And i put a little twist at the end ;) so please update and tell me what you think!**

* * *

"Tsuna~ It's morning!~"

Tsuna was wide awake from Nana's shout, screaming about the Varia while tangled in the covers of his bed.

"Wah! Varia is here!…Wait…a dream?"

Thinking quickly, he reached for the ring around his neck to find it gone. Suddenly, he heard laughing and other noises coming from beside him, and he turned to find Lambo going through Natsu's pockets as she slept.

"Natsu?…How did-Lambo! What are you doing?"Lambo looked up at Tsuna innocently. "Looking for candy. Freaky hair always has candy."

_Well, I can't say he's wrong._ Tsuna thought, but he stopped Lambo and asked where his father was. _He's gone? That means everything about the ring was just a long, unpleasant dream!…But how did Natsu get here?_ He glanced at Natsu's sleeping form for a moment until he heard a small clatter coming from across from him where Reborn was putting up the framed version of the 9th's order. Not only that, but a glittering caught his eye and he found the ring on his finger.

"The ring is also on my finger?"

Reborn jumped up and kicked him in the head.

"Stop flailing, Dame-Tsuna. You'll wake up Natsu."

Tsuna got quiet when he noticed Natsu scowl in her sleep and roll over, but that didn't stop him from remembering everything that happened last night and he was soon freaking out again.

"Ugh, why does this always happen to me! I can't do it anymore! I can't train! I don't want to do it!"

"That's fine." Tsuna poked his head out of his blanket cocoon a bit confused at Reborn's remark. "Then at least go to school. I'll keep an eye on Natsu since she's too exhausted to go."

Tsuna nodded and reluctantly got ready for school, putting Natsu on his bed and informing his mom that she was there before heading off; his hands shaking when he realized something that made him blush. _Natsu's sleeping in my bed!_

* * *

_Ugh, what happened? I had this weird dream about peacocks and babies. I swear Smokey the Bear was in it too._ Sitting up, I soon realized that this was not my apartment nor my room; not to mention the fact that Lambo was sitting on my lap going through my pockets while I-pin was trying to pull him off.

"Um, Lambo? What exactly are you doing?"

He looked up at me and said only one word. "Candy."

I blinked once, before laughing loudly. Leave it to Lambo to make me happy first thing in the morning. Patting his afro I put him on the ground and got up off of, what I'm assuming is, Tsuna's bed.

"Sorry, kid. I don't have anything on me at the moment, but how about we go down stairs and see what's up for breakfast?"

He gave me a confused look. "We already had breakfast, Freaky hair."

Looking around the room and ignoring the nickname he'd given me, I spotted Tsuna's alarm clock that read 1:37 PM.

"Well look at that. Have you had lunch yet?" He nodded. "Then let's see if I can find some after lunch snacks or something."

Lambo got all excited and hurried down the stairs while I chuckled at his enthusiasm. _Ah! That's right. I fell asleep with the kids when we met up with girly man and his friends. Tsuna must've carried me here._ I nodded to myself as my heart sped up a bit at the thought, giving my chest a questioning glance. _Odd._ Shaking the thought, I glanced up to see a kind looking woman washing dishes with an apron on. Lambo latched on to her leg and rambled something too fast for my mind to comprehend, and she turned and smiled widely at me.

"Hello! Tsuna told me you were here. Natsu, was it?"

"Uh, yeah. Natsu Tachibana, miss."

"Oh, no need for that. Just call me Nana. Now why don't I fix you up some lunch. Reborn told me you would be hungry when you woke up."

I nodded and sat down at the table, eagerly awaiting the food she was going to give me. And boy did she give me some. I suppose it was because I hadn't eaten anything in so long, but it was around my seventh bowl that I finally had enough food.

"Thank you so much for the food, Nana. It was great."

I sighed, leaning back in my chair a bit when a yawn escaped my mouth. Nana caught this and gave me a small smile.

"You must be tired, Natsu. Why don't you go rest on the couch?"

"That's okay. If anything, I need to wake myself up a bit…Um, is there anyway I could get these clothes washed?"

"Of course! Just borrow some of Tsu-kun's clothes and I'll get them in the next load."

I headed back up and found a decent black shirt and tan cargo shorts, putting them on and handed over my clothes to Nana. It was then, I came up with a great idea.

"Nana, do you mind if Lambo, I-pin and I play outside with the hose?"

She smiled, catching on to what I was thinking, and allowed me to take the two of them outside where we proceeded to play wrestle and squirt each other with the hose and some water guns Nana found lying around the house. We had all sorts of fun and when Tsuna came home, I was the first to drag him into our little fight by soaking him with the hose.

Eventually, we all collapsed (aside form Reborn, who had amazing energy even after joining us) just as it started to get dark. Nana dried off the younger ones and informed me that my clothes were done as we all headed inside. I borrowed their bathroom for a bit and changed back, enjoying the comfort of my own clothes when I bumped into Tsuna, jarring my shoulder a bit. I hissed slightly in pain and he immediately freaked out a bit.

"Ah! Natsu! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Are you okay?"

"Calm down, Tsuna. You know it gets harder to understand you when you get like this and I'm fine, by the way."

Reborn landed on his shoulder and looked at me with a frown.

"You're lying…Which is why I asked Shamal to come over and check out your shoulder and other injuries."

"Shamal?"

I opened the door to Tsuna's room and was promptly met with some old man's face inches from mine as he scrutinized me. I stared back evenly before getting bored and walking around him, taking a seat on the edge of Tsuna's bed. I barely glanced at the man as he spoke to Reborn.

"Are you sure she's female?"

"Yes, and I need you to look at her injuries. Her shoulder in particular."

"In that case…Lemme give you a kiss!~"

He puckered up his lips and moved forward just as my knee contacted with his crotch. Needless to say, he doubled over in pain and I stooped low to whisper in his ear.

"I suggest you just do your job as a doctor is you want to keep those lips and whatever you have left down stairs."

He nodded and I asked Reborn and Tsuna to leave the room so I could get this over with. Tsuna was more than eager to leave, but Reborn seemed to have other ideas. He merely kicked Tsuna out and closed the door, standing just inside the room with a neutral expression on his face.

"You do know I need to remove my shirt in order for him to see my shoulder, yes?"

He nodded and I just rolled my eyes, knowing I wasn't going to get through his baby hitman skull. Luckily, I had bandages covering the important parts.

Removing my shirt, I winced, my shoulder throbbing at the unwanted movement. Shamal let out a low whistle and began moving my arm and putting a bit of pressure on my swollen shoulder.

"You've really done a number on this one. Definitely pulled the muscle and tendons, nearly dislocating it."

"Hm."

I hummed, not really caring too much as he checked up on the smaller scrapes and cuts, cleaning and disinfecting them as I looked over at the silent Reborn. I felt a bit odd, seeing the distinct frown on his face. _Reminds me of my brother's whenever I used to get bullied and come home beat up. It's almost…nice._

After replacing my shirt, I looked over at Shamal as he gave me instructions about what I can and cannot do.

"I suggest not using that arm as much as possible and keep in in this sling for at least a week."

He put my arm in the dark blue sling, which I scowled at, not liking the fact that I had limited mobility for a week. Glancing back up at him, I thanked him and literally knocked him out of the window for trying to hug me. Tsuna heard the commotion and came back in shouting nonsense when he stopped and noticed the sling with a sad look.

"Tsuna. Don't you think for a minute this is your fault." He looked a bit surprised. "I caught you because I wanted to and if I could, I'd do it all over again…And not just because you're the tenth or whatever, but because you're my friend. Okay?"

"Ah…Thanks, Natsu."

"Sure thing. Oh, and Reborn?" He looked up at me. "Thanks for being concerned."

He smirked, tilting his fedora as I hopped on the window ledge and Tsuna began freaking out again.

"Later, Tsuna, Reborn! I'll meet you guys at the school. I just have to pick up a few things."

And so, I was off to get my hidden food and weapon stash back in order. _The battles begin tonight and I don't want to miss out. Especially if there's someone I'm supposed to fight…although, I don't remember even being mentioned…hm…_

* * *

"Who?"

"Natsu Tachibana. Apparently, the _daughter_ of Nemu Tachibana."

"Didn't know he had one."

"Well, he did. And now she's sided up with the Vongola."

"Really now?"

The shadowed figure smirked and leaned forward in his seat, white canines flashing in the dim amount of light in the room.

"Well then, what are we going to do about that? I'm sure you have an idea, Lance."

"Of course. I'll be sure to give her a…proper greeting."

Lance smiled devilishly as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black slacks and the man across from him sat back, plopping his boots on the table with a 'thud'.

"Best be on your way then. The ring trials have already started, so I've heard. Wouldn't want to miss out on that great opportunity."

Lance nodded and left the room in silence until a slow chuckle rang throughout the room, quickly growing into maniacal laughter as the man clutched his sides; his chair shaking precariously on its two hind legs. Still chuckling slightly, the man pulled out a photograph of a woman with auburn hair and bright green eyes laughing next to a man who's face had been burned out of the picture. He stroked the woman's face with his finger and held the photo up to his face.

"A_ daughter. _I wonder if she's as beautiful as you….Either way, she won't be around for much longer. After all, who am I to separate mother and daughter?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay. I'm sorry about the late update as well as the fact that this won't have the crazy guy from the last chapter. sorry! i just want to save him for later on in the ring battle and this one's mostly about the sun battle, although it is a bit longer. but enough of my blabbing. Onwards! oh, and please review ;)**

* * *

Darkness came a bit sooner than I would've liked, but I still took my time heading to the school while mentally doing my checklist. _Weapons, ring, headphones, miscellaneous, and food. Hm, I think I have everything. I even brought music to listen to this time…although, it's not really listening. It's more like feeling._ I frowned, but shook off the depressed feeling. I'd long gotten over being deaf, but it occasionally gets to me. _One of the many reasons I dislike the dark. I can't read people very well._

Jumping down from the roof I had been running on, I glanced around and spotted two figures standing on the school grounds fighting someone in dark clothing. Turning up the volume on my headphones so I could feel the deep beats of the drums and bass, I hopped down and took out a figure that had been sneaking up behind the two. It was a bit harder with my arm in a sling, but I got it done. A hand was placed on my shoulder and I tensed up, grabbing it and swinging the man over my shoulder and to the ground. I merely blinked when I saw who I had thrown.

There before me on the ground was Iemitsu. He didn't seem angry at me for throwing him, but Basil did and started yelling at me. I couldn't understand a word, even more so because it was dark, so I just guessed that he was upset about me throwing his master.

"I can't understand you, but I apologize for throwing Iemitsu. With my arm like this and my senses already limited, I reacted before recognizing that he wasn't a threat."

Basil still frowned as he helped Iemitsu sit up, but Iemitsu was laughing from what I could see.

"No problem! I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that…So you're deaf, huh?"

I nodded, taking no offense to his words because the look in his eyes was enough to let me know he felt bad about what he'd done without his knowing. I looked over to my left, where a bright light was illuminating the night sky and turned back to them with a slight bow.

"I should go. It looks like I'm already late."

Iemitsu gave a bright smile and he ruffled my hair, before letting me go. Running towards the light, I gave a small smile. _I like him. He reminds me of my brother…when he's not trying to get me eaten by bears._ I sweat dropped and slowed my pace as I neared the giant boxing ring that everyone was standing around.

It was odd though. The ring had metal bars going across it, like a cage and I grew concerned. The lights could easily heat them up after a period of time and they could become painful weapons for either side, should they take advantage of them. Glancing in the ring, I notice it was Ryohei and Gay Peacock that would be going against each other.

"Hm, he's strong. Ryohei's gonna have some problems later since Gay Peacock's got the advantage."

Tsuna jumped next to me and began pointing his finger at me and yelling something. Turning to him with an eyebrow raised, I focused on what he was saying now that I could see him clearly thanks to the lights from the ring.

"W-What?! Natsu! When did you get here?! And what do you mean he has the advantage?!"

"I just arrived after running into your father a few moments ago, and Gay Peacock does have the advantage." I turned back to the ring. "The muscles in his arms are proof that he takes a form of martial arts and the Varia have a vast amount of experience that we don't. They are used to life and death situations and know what to expect and what to look for."

Tsuna looked out towards the ring and closed his eyes tightly with his fists clenched at his sides. I had made him upset and mentally smacked myself.

"Sorry. Those are just the facts, but there is something they do not have that we do." That got his attention. "We have people around us that we need to protect and people to support us."

I gave a small smile and Tsuna nodded, looking determined until he paled. I cocked my head in confusion as Gokudera also paled and tried to figure out what just happened that I had missed. Looking back into the ring, hoping for some answers, I spotted throwing his cloak to the side and taking a familiar pose.

"Muay Thai. It's been a while since I've seen that."

I nodded in recognition, when I spotted something shine under the long piece of fabric that covered his left leg. _That fabric. It's used to hide something. A weapon maybe?_ I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned to Reborn since he seemed to be explaining something.

"Looking at the previous family members, the guardian of the sun all had a strong fist or foot. Destroying the misfortune that attacks the family with their own body, they become the sun that brightly shines upon an area. That's the purpose of the guardian of the sun."

I frowned and looked back at the ring and those surrounding it. The group of Varia were there, but there were two others that I didn't recognize. Two twin women, who seemed to be the proctors of the fight.

"Hey, Reborn? Who are the two women over there?"

Turning to him as he sat on Yamamoto's shoulder, I took note of the distrustful look on his face.

"They are the Cervello. They work under the 9th orders and keep the rules in place."

"I don't like them."

He tilted his fedora in agreement and I tuned back into the battle just as the lights were turned up full blast. I closed my eyes and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from my sleeve, using them to block out a majority of the sun. The first thing I saw was Ryohei get hit hard in the stomach by Gay Peacock. I sighed while Tsuna got upset about the fairness of the match. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back with a shake of my head.

"But Natsu!"

"No, Tsuna. It's fair. Ryohei wasn't prepared while Gay Peacock was. It's his own fault and if he focuses on his other senses, he _will _win."

* * *

Tsuna took in Natsu's words and, although he desperately wanted to do something, he knew she was right. Ryohei then got punched into the bars surrounding the ring and screamed at the extreme heat.

"With an electrical metal wire, the rope is heated to several hundred degrees."

"No way! That's crazy!"

Tsuna struggled in Natsu's grip once more, turning to yell at her to let him go when he noticed something. Her eyes were hard and her jaw was working back and forth. Even her grip on Tsuna was tight and her hand was shaking. She wanted to go over there and help him as much as he did, but she was holding herself back. He felt the need to comfort her. To do something, _anything_ to let her know that Ryohei would be okay but he was afraid. He looked down at his hand as it reached towards her, but he quickly dropped it. _What am I doing?! I shouldn't want to comfort her. I-I mean, she's not like Kyoko. She probably doesn't want me to comfort her anyway. B-Besides, I like Kyoko!_ He shook his head and looked back to the ring as Ryohei got up.

"Quit joking around!"

Lussuria flew from the punch and Tsuna and Yamamoto cheered.

"He hit him!"

"What an impressive punch!"

Reborn stayed silent and Natsu frowned. "He let himself get hit."

"What?"

Tsuna turned to Natsu with confusion, but she just pointed at the ring as Lussuria flipped and came back down after Ryohei. Ryohei looked prepared and swung another punch, but Natsu shook her head. Lussuria was too confident.

"I got you!"

Underneath Lussuria's loose fabric, his knee was covered in metal; the exact place Ryohei punched. Everyone on the Vongola's side was shocked except Reborn and Natsu as Ryohei fell to the ground cradling his broken arm. Tsuna and Gokudera freaked out and Reborn explained what else was happening that they had yet to notice.

"Ryohei is also growing weak from all the heat emitted by the light radiation and he's dehydrating."

"No way! At this rate-"

"Stand up-kora!"

Natsu turned to spot the baby above them flying with a seagull and merely gave him a look. Nothing really surprised her anymore with hitman babies and mafia families.

"It's about time. Go and show him your true strength, Ryohei!"

Lussuria laughed at that. "No matter who talks, it's useless. This boy is finished. I'll have him!~"

"That's not true." Natsu said with conviction. "Depending on who the encouragement comes from, one word is all that is needed to win a war."

Ryohei smiled and looked up.

"Master Colonello…I've been waiting for those words!"

As Ryohei stood, Lussuria continued to try and discourage him. It wasn't working very well though, and when Ryohei mentioned how his left punch didn't work, everyone seemed to understand.

"That's right, ever since he saved Futa and the others he's only been punching with his left hand."

"That's right. He never punched with his right-kora!"

"B-But why?"

"To let his muscles rest." The group turned to Natsu, surprised. "After an extreme workout, it's better to let the cells in the muscles relax to make sure they are ready for the next work out. Right?"

Colonello nodded. "Right-kora! Another is because he's the guardian of the sun."

"This right fist exists only to turn around the extreme disadvantage I have!"

Natsu turned back to the ring along with the others as Lussuria began doing some amazing footwork.

"What amazing footwork!"

"And he can barely see right now too!"

Ryohei was punched again, but he got up and was more confident than ever. Natsu smirked and even Tsuna seemed hopeful. Lussuria went around Ryohei in circles, but Ryohei figured it out pretty easily and did an upper cut to Lussuria.

"Maximum Canon!"

"H-He did it!"

"Not quite, Tsuna."

Tsuna turned to Natsu, but she had already turned back to the match; sitting down on the floor as Lussuria flipped and landed elegantly.

"If it was a clean hit, it probably would've been risky."

"No. I hit it for sure."

"Smart. Looks like he's not all muscle after all."

"What?"

Tsuna was confused, until he followed Natsu's line of sight and saw that Ryohei had knocked out all the lights.

"It looks like I can finally fight you in a fair situation. I can open my eyes now!"

The Vongola team smiled, removing their sunglasses, and began cheering as Lussuria learned that Ryohei had not used his fist to knock out the lights. Apparently, he used the salt crystals left behind from his sweat evaporating and shot it at the lights. With that knowledge, Lussuria was confident once again.

"Idiot Peacock. He's underestimating Ryohei."

It was only a mumble, but Reborn smiled at Natsu for noticing. Lussuria then swung a fist at Ryohei, blowing the salt crystals from his body into the lights.

"That's what you would call Varia quality."

"Varia quality?"

"The Varia, Tsuna, takes on missions that are said to be impossible for normal people to do. They are a group of genius assassins that complete their missions perfectly no matter the situation. Their high-leveled skills in killing is considered Varia quality by most people."

"Woah. How did you know all that, Natsu?"

She smirked as she watched Lussuria and pulled out a sandwich. "You'd be surprised what places I can hack into."

Tsuna sweat dropped and took a step back, surprised that Natsu would do something like that. _But now that I think about it, she always did seem to know a lot about us. Scary. And where'd she pull out that sandwich from?!_

"Oh?~ You said it well, Natsu-chan~"

"Thank you, Gay peacock."

Lussuria's eye twitched in annoyance while his teammates snickered in the background. Deciding to ignore Natsu's comment, he turned back to Ryohei.

"Don't you understand that there's such a gap between our skills? That this will be a game and not a battle?"

"Say whether or not it's a game after you accept my right fist first."

* * *

I was beginning to grow bored with the battle at this point. Ryohei's sister had come and with her help he was able to release the full power of his right fist; shattering Gay Peacock's knee. Even Colonello knew that it was pretty much finished and left, dragging Kyoko along with him. I suddenly felt this sickening feeling in my stomach and turned back towards the boxing arena where Ryohei was asking for the ring.

"No! I don't want to! I'm part of the Varia. I can win with only this one leg! It's easy!"

"What amazing persistence."

"That's not it."

I scowled fiercely and dashed towards the Varia, the tekagi-shuko appearing on my good hand. Reborn told Yamamoto to grab me, but I was already across the way by the time he reacted, trying to figure out who would try to kill off Gay Peacock. _Who could do it? Has to be a long distance fighter, so not Kinks, Bell Baby, or Girly-Man. Possibly Prison Prince, but I'm betting money on Smokey the Bear._ Quick stepping in between the Varia members, I swung my tekagi-shuko as Smokey lifted his hand and shot out the missiles. One swipe wasn't enough and, although it did take out half of the missiles, the other half hit Lussuria in the back.

I glared at Smokey and it didn't waver as I easily blocked Girly-Man's sword swing. He struggled against me as I held my ground until I felt the barrel of a gun on the side of my head. Reborn now sat on my shoulder and tapped out a message to me in Morse code, since I couldn't turn to face him.

"_Back down."_

"Che."

I swung my tekagi-shuko to the side, allowing it to dissipate and stalked away from Girly-Man and his companions. The battle was over and we had won, but it still felt like a loss to me. Needless to say, I was not happy in the least. With Reborn as my anchor to keep me from acting out, I popped a sucker in my mouth and crunched down on it, hard.

_Crack!_

Tsuna gave me a sad look, but I ignored it and continued crunching on my candy as the Cervello began speaking.

"This is the end of tonight's match, but from now on we shall announce the next battle's participants."

Not noticing the mindless chatter around us, I scowled and continued to watch in order to see who would be battling next.

"Tomorrow evening's battle will be…the match between the thunder guardians."

I gripped my fist tightly, blood dripping down it from my nails cutting through the skin. _Lambo…_

* * *

Reborn had stood next to Tsuna now that the Varia had left and once they had convince Kyoko that it was only a sumo contest, everyone had headed home except Tsuna, Lambo, and Natsu. _Speaking of Natsu…_ Reborn gave her a glance as she stood off to the side seething in anger._ Hm. She's strong but cares for the enemy. She'd be worthy of the boss position if she had the connections._ Reborn smirked and tuned in on Iemitsu's conversation with the young Vongola boss.

"Kyoko seems like a nice girl. Just like mom when she was young."

"Wha?!"

"But that Haru girl was cute, too. Tsuna, you're quite popular."

"What are you saying, Dad?!"

"Although, Natsu seems pretty good too. Strong with a heart big enough for the enemies."

"Dad! I-I don't like Natsu like that!"

He smirked. "Oh really? That blush on your face says otherwise."

Tsuna's face grew redder as Iemitsu laughed and handed Lambo over to him.

"Sorry, take care of this too while you're at it. He's a child that holds a lot of potential power."

"Wha?! Me?!"Iemitsu nodded and bent down to whispered to Tsuna. "Keep an eye on Natsu too. She doesn't have the big family we do and she gets lonely, whether she shows it or not. Okay?"

He gave Tsuna a smile as he looked over to see Natsu sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Oh yeah! Congratulations on one victory! Daddy won't be able to come home for a while, but be a good boy!"

Tsuna turned away from Natsu and yelled back.

"Hey! That's troublesome! Don't run away!"

It was too late for that, since Iemitsu and Basil left and Reborn spoke up.

"It's a good time to show your baby sitting abilities."

"Not you too! It's more like we should withdraw! There's no way we can possibly make Lambo fight."

Reborn then told him how ruthless Levi is and mentioned finishing Tsuna's training, but only got around to talking about some bullet before he fell asleep.

"Don't fall asleep!"

"Tsuna."

"Huh?"

Tsuna looked to his right and stared at Natsu as she blankly stared back.

"I won't be at the next match tomorrow."

"What?! But-I thought-"

He paused mid sentence at the look on her face. She looked torn apart, as though she wanted to be there, but she was fighting with herself over something else. Her fist kept clenching and unclenching at her side and Tsuna really felt bad for getting upset with her.

"O-Okay. I understand. I-I'll tell the others you had something to do, okay?"

He gave her a small smile and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He was never very good at comforting girls, or even talking to them, really. So when she smiled back, his heart took a flying leap.

"Thanks, Tsuna. I'll make it up to you. Promise."

She waved at him, then donned her usual blank expression as she started running towards the school entrance. Debating with himself, he shouted out after her. When she didn't stop though, he felt stupid for forgetting that she couldn't hear. _Idiot. Now I have to hurry._ He scooped up Reborn and ran after her, gasping for air when he finally grabbed a hold of her sleeve.

"You need something, Tsuna?"

"D-Do you want to…uh, stay over at my house tonight? I-I mean-My mom shouldn't mind a-and I know there's no one to welcome you at your house s-so…You could, that is, I-if you wanted to."

His face was a bright red hue by the time he finished, not expecting her to say yes.

"Um, okay. Thank you, Tsuna."

She rubbed the back of her neck in a similar fashion to Tsuna before offering to carry Lambo as they went to his house. They had a comfortable silence aside from the loud music in Natsu's headphones that Tsuna didn't notice before. He didn't want to disturb her, but at the same time, he was curious as to why she was listening to music when she couldn't hear. So, he tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hm?"

"W-Why are you listening to music when you can't…um-"

"Hear? It's okay. Actually, it's really nice because, when I turn it up loudly like this, I can feel the vibrations from certain instruments. It's almost like I can actually hear them and the feelings the people put behind them so it's almost as though I am listening to the song itself, even though I'm not. Um, did that make sense?"

Tsuna nodded, a bit surprised. He had always thought that Natsu didn't care about her disability when in actuality, she really did and has probably felt horrible in some of the situations they have been in. Not knowing what was happening around her certainly had its disadvantages and not being able to do anything about it was probably worse. _And yet she acts so strong like it's not even there._ He snapped out of his trance-like state when they arrived at his door and felt glad about learning something about his newest friend, while knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that she too was going to be involved in the ring battles sooner or later. And when that happens, none of the Vongola will be able to do anything about it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's the next chapter! and sorry again for the wait, stupid writer's block hit me like a train. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and review for me since you're all such great readers ^^**

* * *

I woke up extremely early the next morning and prepared to leave via Tsuna's window, hopefully without waking him. Just as I climbed on the sill and took off my sling, I took one last look as he slept and saw Reborn watching me from his hammock.

"You're leaving."

I nodded. "I'm going to meet someone…Someone who will make me stronger."

"You feel you are not strong enough?"

"Yes." I said as I turned looked out towards the darkening sky. "I fear something big is going to happen and…I am not worthy to stand by Tsuna's side if I cannot even protect those around me."

I looked back as he gave a small smirk and rolled over. I took that as my cue to leave and jumped out the window into the now on-going storm. Running swiftly, I ignored the rain pelting through my clothes and jumped through yards until I was in a clearing in the forest. I sat down and waited patiently as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled the earth beneath me.

I wasn't waiting long before something landed on my head and I smiled. Reaching up, I picked the small white monkey off my head and stood up.

"I'm glad you came, Fon."

The man in the purple robe nodded silently and began walking away, so I followed. We soon ended up at a nice little gyoza stand with just enough cover to protect us from the rain. Fon handed me a gyoza bun and I took a bite before speaking with him.

"Fon…Could you train me some more?"

He shook his head and I sighed, pulling a hand through my hair.

"Please, Fon. I need to get stronger!"

He lowered his collar so I could read his lips.

"For what purpose? The last time I trained you was so you could defend yourself and get away from opponents too strong for you. I see no reason to train you any further than that."

"I need to get stronger to protect them! To protect the people I care for!"

Lightning flashed as I stood from my seat, upset. He made no movement and I felt like the last chance I had was slipping through my fingers.

"If I can't get the training from you, I'll go do it alone. Thank you for seeing me, Fon."

I bowed and went to walk away when he grabbed my arm, so I looked at him.

"You have grown, Natsu. I will train you."

The corner of my lips turned up into a smile for half a second and I bowed again.

"Thank you Shīfu." (Chinese title for teacher/master)

* * *

Tsuna watched Lambo stomp around in his rain boots with the others, mentally worrying about Lambo himself and Natsu. He had no idea where she had gone, but he felt slightly disappointed that she left without a goodbye. Gokudera stood next to him with a scowl.

"Geeze, that dumb cow. He has no clue."

"I-I wonder if there's some way we can withdraw."

"Don't worry Tsuna. If anything happens, we'll jump in."

Gokudera, not wanting to be outdone by Yamamoto jumped in to reassure Tsuna as well.

"Don't worry, 10th!"

"Yeah! Leave it to us!"

Two voices spoke from up above them and they spotted the Cervello in dark raincoats.

"Actions such as that will result in disqualification. Along with that, all who interrupt and the one who saved will forfeit their rings to the opponent."

Gokudera frowned at them for upsetting Tsuna and they showed them the battle field on the roof. Tsuna wasn't quite sure what it was that made that the battle field, until a bolt of lightning struck one of five lightning towers on top of the school. They hurried up to the roof, to get a better look and Tsuna was suddenly worried for their safety; not from their enemies, but from the infamous school disciplinary, Hibari. _H-He'll totally kill us if he sees this!_

"Tonight's combat area will be fitted with lightning rods for the match between the Thunder guardians."

"The battle ground is called the Elettrico Circuito."

Another lightning bold struck and the floor lit up, causing Tsuna even more worry for his small companion. _If only Natsu was here. She would know what to do._

"Lambo wants to do that!"

"Does he think this is some kind of amusement park or something?!"

Lambo dropped his horn and Gokudera picked it up and wrote in 'dumb' in sharpie on it. Tsuna wasn't sure what to say to that, but after seeing that the enemy was there already waiting, Ryohei decided to do their little huddle.

"Lambo fight!"

"Oh!"

"Gahaha! That was fun! Do it again!"

"No way!"

The others were a bit concerned now and had crowded around him wondering if he was going to make it. Tsuna stepped up to Lambo and patted his head, squatting down to his level.

"Lambo, listen to me. If you don't want to go, you don't have to. I don't know why my dad picked you, but there's something wrong in having such a young kid fight. You don't wanna die this young, right?"

Lambo slowly tried to process what Tsuna was saying, but a few things seemed to be lost in the translation.

"My, my, my. Tsuna doesn't know?" Lambo turned and picked his nose with his pinky. "Lambo can't die because he's invincible."

"Wha-!"

"Bye~"

Tsuna suddenly remembered something and reached into his pocket to pull out a few things. In one hand were a pair of horns, dirty and scared from many battles. In the other, was a huge lollipop. Lambo's eyes were transfixed on the sucker and he reached for it, but Tsuna pulled it out of his reach.

"If you want the sucker, you have to take these and you can't shoot the 10 year bazooka, okay?!"

He nodded and took the horns, before reaching out for the lollipop. Tsuna sighed, wondering what possessed Natsu to leave this for Lambo before she left. Tsuna handed it over and Lambo grinned with another cackle.

"Gahaha! Lambo will win for sure now that freaky hair gave him this!"

He held up the sucker and bounded into the ring, leaving Tsuna dumbstruck at how Lambo knew the sucker was from Natsu and how that somehow motivated him to succeed. _She even knows what to do when she's not here. I wonder why I was picked to be a mafia boss and not her. _He sweat dropped and focused on the match that could possibly kill the youngest Vongola guardian.

* * *

I fought back against Fon as hard as I could, and it wasn't long before I was out of breath and shaking from the adrenaline and the cold. I never expected him to be a baby like Reborn since he was always in disguise, but that was the least of my worries right about now. Blinking hard against the rain, I struggled to make out Fon's form as he practically danced around the rain drops. I thought of Lambo, suddenly as lightning hit close by, and that one second of distraction was all Fon needed to land a good hit to my injured shoulder.

I stiffed a cry of pain as I fell back onto the muddied ground, clutching my shoulder and biting my lip hard enough to make it bleed. Fon flipped midair and landed next to me with a frown on his face.

"You did not tell me you were injured, Natsu, and you shouldn't be distracted so easily during a fight."

"Ngh, sorry. Let's continue."

I sat back up and went to stand, but Fon shook his head.

"No. I think it's time for a break."

I stood up regardless. "No. I'm fine, please-"

"I said no, Natsu. Distraction can lead to serious injuries and if you had told me you were injured, I may not have agreed to this so readily."

"You don't understand, Fon! I'm running out of time!"

He glared at me, something I had never seen from my teacher, and I went quiet. He sighed and gestured to a covered area off to the side. I silently followed him and sat down across from him, watching his lips as he spoke.

"You cannot expect yourself to grow stronger in a short amount of time. I understand that you wish to protect your friends and as such, I agreed to train you. I did not expect these circumstances though."

I bowed my head for a moment before raising it. "I am deeply sorry, Shīfu."

He shook his head. "No need. I understand your desire to help, but perhaps you can help in a different way."

"How?"

He smiled a bit. "You are very smart, Natsu. I've always enjoyed teaching you because you like to think things through. Now is the time to use that. What have you done to help, besides fighting?"

I sat there and thought about that. It took me a moment, but I knew Fon was very patient and soon I think I had found something.

"I reassure them. Comfort them. I suppose."

"Do not guess. One must always be certain."

"I'm sorry."

"You are correct though. You just _being _there helps them more than you realize. Therefore, I am willing to continue training you, but I believe you have somewhere to be, yes?"

I nodded with a slight smile. "Yes, Shīfu. Thank you for the help and I am sorry for wasting your time like this."

"You have not wasted my time at all. I am always willing to spend some time with one of my best students. Now go help your friends. I will see you tomorrow, yes?"

"Of course. I look forward to it."

I bowed shortly and hurried off. No time to waste when Lambo's life may be on the line. _Looks like I'll have to make a few stops first. Hold on, Lambo._

* * *

A dark haired man stood in the ring with an almost bored expression. Two horns sat on his head and the jacket around his shoulders was covered in stitches. He seemed totally unaffected by the storm around him as he sighed.

"Ah, this situation. If I'm not dreaming, I must be in the past, thanks to the 10 year bazooka."

Gokudera, Tsuna, and the others were really shocked at how much Lambo changed in twenty years. He seemed more mature and nothing like the whiny cow they were used to.

"Is that really the dumb cow?"

"Lambo seems…really reliable."

Older Lambo turned around and smiled a bit.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you guys again. All your faces, how nostalgic…But I don't see Natsu around. Shame, I really like her."

He bent down and picked up a wet, dripping lollipop with a small smile.

"Ah, I remember this. Natsu always knew which lollipop I liked best. It's enough to move me to tears, but it seems like this is no time to be emotional. There's a very rough-looking person staring at me."

Kinks-I mean, Leviathan, glared at the new comer, not exactly happy about all the interruptions.

"It doesn't matter who you are, I'm going to kill you."

Older Lambo picked up the ring off the floor, uncaringly as he spoke.

"It seems like my past self encountered quite a hassle, but I'm different."

"Enough talk. Die!"

After redirecting the lightning attack along with the lightning strike, he blocks another with his horn and everyone is shocked at what they find underneath the grim of the twenty year old horns. They were even more surprised when the older Lambo actually stood his own against Leviathan. There was only one problem: the five minutes were up.

Normal Lambo returned and was knocked out by the shock that the older Lambo was preparing to use to finish the enemy off. He had no way of protecting himself and reborn was forced to remind the others that they could not interfere or else they'd be disqualified.

"What should we do if we can't help?! Reborn! What should we do?!"

"All we can do is pray for him."

Leviathan started beating Lambo and finally, Tsuna couldn't take it anymore. He started heading towards the arena and Lambo tried to stop him, but Tsuna said something that he was proud to hear.

"I…I have to protect Lambo!"

"Do as you will, then."

Just as Leviathan was about to finish Lambo off, his sword was blocked and he was nearly crushed by the lightning rods.

"The lightning rods!"

"And who's that in the center of the arena?!"

Everyone turned to the one figure outside of the arena, covered in smoke with bright orange flames on his forehead.

"If I have to watch my precious comrades die with my own eyes, I wouldn't be able to atone for it. No matter how many times I died."

Tsuna stood there, confidently holding the melted down wires and everyone nearly forgot about the other figure who was picking up Lambo gently.

"No matter how important they are said to be, the Vongola rings, the position for the next boss…I can't battle for such things."

Even the enemy was shocked by what he had said as the flame slowly dissipated from his forehead.

"But my friends…I don't want my friends to be hurt!"

"Stop that rubbish."

Tsuna looked up at the voice just a second too late, but he someone looking out for him. The shadowed figure from before jumped in front of him with Lambo in one arm as they used the other to _grab_ the flame that had been heading in Tsuna's direction. Xanxus was standing on a higher portion of the roof and he scowled down at the figure holding his flame as though it were nothing more than a toy.

"_You_."

"Sup, Fox-tail. You miss me?"

Tsuna stared up at the figure from the ground in shock. _I know that voice-_

"Natsu?!"

She didn't notice his yell, nor Gokudera's constant shouting at her, since they had obviously forgotten in the spur of the moment that she was deaf. Besides, she was busy as Xanxus threw another fireball at her and she simply returned the one she had caught; thus canceling the second one out.

Xanxus liked the challenge she presented him with, but his fight was not with her at the moment so he glared down at Tsuna. It surprised him though, when Tsuna returned the glare; as opposed to the first time they met when he cowered behind his pesky bodyguard.

"What's up with that expression? Can it be that you are seriously thinking that you can defeat me and become successor? Even your annoying pest of a companion couldn't hope to defeat me."

Natsu rolled her eyes at the man as Tsuna spoke.

"I didn't think about that kind of thing. I just don't want to lose any of my friends in this battle!"

Natsu didn't know what Tsuna had said, but one look at Xanxus' face had her tensing as she passed Lambo over to him. He fumbled for a moment, but was scared for his friend. She looked exhausted and beat up, and he knew she had left her sling at his house so he was worried about the great amount of pain he was sure she was in.

One of the Cervello jumped towards Xanxus and Natsu shouted out at her.

"Stay back you idiot!"

She didn't listen and Natsu dashed after her falling body after Xanxus hit her point-blank with his attack. She caught her with a pained grunt, and laid the woman down before growling lowly and giving the man the nastiest glare anyone on either side had seen coming from someone like her. Xanxus took one look and smiled.

"Now I finally understand the reason that the old geezer chose you as his successor, even if it was only temporary. Whether it's this rotten talk or that weak flame, you and that old fart are similar in many ways. I'm actually surprised he didn't choose your big mouthed bodyguard here. She certainly has some spark that I can't wait to snuff out."

He glanced over at Natsu and Tsuna watched as she continued to glare at him, a snarl appearing on her face. Xanxus took one look and started laughing.

"Phaaah! We'll have a tragedy, no, a comedy here!" He then gestured to the remaining Cervello.

"Hey you, woman. Continue."

"Yes. Then we will announce the result of the match. Leviathan wins because of Mr. Sawada's interruption in this guardian battle. And the ring of thunder and the ring of the sky will be given to Varia."

Both sides were upset at this outcome, the enemy's voices heard loud and clear over the shocked Vongola.

"Voi! What about that brat?!" Squalo pointed at Natsu.

The Cervello woman gave her a glance and she stared back blankly, before the Cervello turned back.

"She is not of either side and is not participating in this battle, therefore her interference will have no consequence."

"What?! So she just get's to get away scot-free?!"

Cervello nodded. "We can do nothing to those who do not have a ring and are considered innocents. The most we can do is ban her from viewing the next match. You, Mr. Sawada, are disqualified though due to damage done to the field, since it's considered obstructing the match."

"N-No way!"

"We are the rules."

"That's playing dirty!"

The Cervello ignored them and handed the rings over to Xanxus. He said some speech that Natsu didn't bother to pay any attention to as she looked over the injured Cervello woman. She did look up at Xanxus, however, when she finished/

"Still, it wouldn't be fun to just kill you, the one chosen by that old fart. There'll be plenty of time to kill you later, after letting you taste real despair in this scramble for the rings. Just like that old fart."

Natsu was just as confused as Tsuna at that and couldn't concentrate on finding everyone who was talking at the moment as she walked over to Tsuna, so she just looked back up.

"Rejoice, morons. I am giving you guys another chance. We will continue the rest of the matched as usual. If by any chance you guys can win this battle by majority, I will give you the Vongola rings and the position of boss…But if you lose, everything you hold dear will be eliminated."

Natsu tensed as he looked in her direction with a smirk. He then turned towards the Cervello and she announced the next match.

"Tomorrows match will be the battle between the guardians of storm."

The group talked for a bit until they remembered Lambo, still held in Tsuna's arms. Natsu went to go over, but felt a slight chill up her spine. She was being watched. Turning around, she scanned the roof tops until she spotted a cloaked form who gave a small wave. Rolling her eyes, she decided to ignore the man that she knew wasn't an enemy for now. Walking over to Tsuna, she tapped the freaking out boy on the shoulder.

"I brought Dino to help with the injuries. He'll take care of Lambo and…I'm sorry."

"W-What? What for? You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you helped save us."

She shook her head. "No. If I was here earlier, I could have saved Lambo from this."

It was Tsuna's turn to shake his head as they all started leaving; Dino taking Lambo and hurrying him off to the hospital.

"It's not you fault, Natsu! I-I'm really glad you came and what you gave Lambo, it really cheered him up. Thank you."

She blinked in surprise and turned away, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Y-You're welcome, Tsuna."

Reborn sat on Yamamoto's shoulder and Gokudera joined up with the two of them, hitting Natsu upside the head and yelling.

"You jerk! Where have you been?! How dare you make the tenth worry!"

She stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was saying and stared up at Yamamoto as he patted her head.

"You did a good job, Natsu."

She nodded and looked over at Tsuna who seemed a bit down.

"Tsuna?"

"I…I wonder if it was okay for me to interfere in the match at that time."

She noticed he turned toward Reborn and focused on his ending statement.

"Vongola doesn't need a boss who abandons his men."

She nodded confidently, and gave Tsuna a reassuring smile which he returned. It was a little after that when Reborn tapped Natsu as she yawned. Looking at him with bleary eyes, she read his lips.

"What is your flame?"

"Mm…Dunno."

"What?! How do you not know?!"

Yamamoto laughed at Gokudera's over-exaggeration and Natsu looked confused at what just occurred, but returned to looking at Reborn.

"What do you mean?"

"It changes. Sometimes it's orange like Tsuna's and sometimes it turns black or grey. I'm…unsure of it's properties."

Reborn hummed in thought as Natsu yawned again, wincing when she stretched her shoulder. Tsuna noticed and gently grabbed her arm.

"U-Um, Natsu? You, uh, left your sling at my house and…are you okay? You look pretty exhausted."

"I'm okay…Just tired and, ngh, sore."

She grabbed her shoulder with a grimace. It was definitely worse than before, but she didn't want Tsuna worrying. Unfortunately, Tsuna wasn't going to have her avoiding it today and turned her to face him. _It's my fault she was hurt like that to begin with._

"Natsu, stay at my house tonight. I worried about your arm."

She scowled, but at seeing the concern on his face, sighed and nodded.

"Okay, but I want ice cream."

Tsuna opened his mouth in shock for a moment at her completely blank face, then started laughing.

"O-Okay. I'm sure we have some."

Unknown to the others, he smiled to himself with one thought in his head. _Cute._


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, this is a bit shorter than normal, but not by much and it get's a bit depressing near the end...but there is also a lot of info about her relationship towards some people in here too, so please review to tell me what you think! i'm sure you'll enjoy the end ^^**

* * *

I trained with Fon all day the next morning and only stopped when I felt the need to join Tsuna as he walked to the school for Gokudera's challenge, making sure I put my sling back on. I knew that I couldn't stay after interfering with the last trial, but I might as well be there before hand to help ease his nervousness. I felt a tap on my shoulder and glanced at Tsuna.

"A-Are you all right? You seem a bit beat up."

I nodded and stared forward again. "I've been better. I was training with my old master all day…Are _you_ okay? You seem…nervous."

I glanced at him, as his eyes widened before softening.

"I-I am. I mean, I know that he should have no problem since it's Gokudera, but…I can't help but feel worried. I don't want him to end up like Lambo."

"Tsuna, caring for others is not a bad thing. You can't win if there are not people to support you and the same goes for Gokudera. Trust in him and he will not disappoint you. He is your right hand man after all."

Tsuna smiled a bit and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I guess you're right. Thanks Natsu."

"Sure thing."

We rounded the corner to the entrance of the school and Yamamoto and Ryohei stood there waiting for us. They talked for a bit and I waved them off as they headed inside the school. _Hm, what to do now._ A weight landed on my shoulder and I looked over to see Fon who wanted to speak with me. The two of us headed over to his gyoza stand and enjoyed our late dinner.

"You wanted to speak with me, Shīfu?"

"Yes. I am planning on returning to China for a little while; therefore, I will have to stop training you for now."

I bowed my head slightly. "I understand. I am thankful for what you have taught me so far and I wish you a safe journey."

He was smiling softly as I looked up. "You've always been so formal with me…I wish you good luck with your training and remember to think things through and not allow a perfect wind to drift by unnoticed."

I stood up and bowed to him before heading back to the school. Imagine my surprise when I very nearly ran into Hibari on the way there. He was not pleased about something it seems and swung his tonfa at me despite the fact that I hadn't actually ran into him. I dodged and held up my good hand in surrender.

"Sorry for almost running into you, Hibari, but uh, is everything okay? You're a little ten-"

I was cut off as the tonfa was pointed threateningly in my direction, millimeters away from taking my nose off.

"I am not _tense_. There is someone defiling my school."

I didn't even have a chance to wonder how he knew someone was destroying his school before he stalked off, grabbing me by the back of my collar and dragging me with him. He seemed to know that I had an idea about what was going on and grew even more displeased when he saw the explosions coming from the third floor of the school building. _Oh crap. I can't let him go in there! Who knows what he'll end up doing!_

"Hey, uh, Hibari? I know your school's being blown up and all, but what do you say we stay put here for a little while more?"

I struggled with his grip on my collar, trying to pry his hands off me, but he tossed me a glare over his shoulder and I sweat dropped. _He is _definitely_ not happy. Sorry, Tsuna, I tried._

* * *

Tsuna and the others had just been informed that Yamamoto was going to be fighting in the next battle and his opponent was going to be Squalo.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. I can finally cut you up. Don't run away with your tail between your legs because of the power I showed you last time, sword kid."

Tsuna stared at him with a surprised look while Yamamoto just laughed.

"Hahaha, don't worry. I will be too excited to fall asleep."

"Brat…" Squalo growled as they were suddenly interrupted by one of their men jumping into the building.

"Sorry of the interruption! Captain Levi! Someone has entered the school. The lighting raiders are being defeated one by one!"

"What? Who could it be?"

Levi was shocked that someone could defeat the group of guards he had built up around the perimeter. Sure, they were weak, but not _this_ weak. Tsuna was also surprised when Reborn spoke up.

"Didn't I say so? They will be assembled together in no time. That guy came back from training."

"Eh? That guy?" Tsuna said confused, but it didn't take much for him to figure out what Reborn meant when a man was thrown into the hall and Hibari Kyoya walked into the hall with his tonfa raised.

"What are you all doing in my school?"

Tsuna smiled. "Hibari…He came! He really came to participate in the scramble battle for the rings…The strongest guy, Hibari!"

Hibari himself ignored Tsuna's rambling and glared.

"Because of illegal intrusion and destruction of various school buildings, I will bite everyone here to death under collective responsibility."

The Vongola group was freaking out, aside from Yamamoto, but Levi was thoroughly ticked off.

"How dare you…to defeat all my subordinates! Move, Cervello! He's only an Illegal intruder!"

Levi brought his lightning covered swords together and launched an attack at Hibari. Being as calm as can be, he threw a figure at Levi and dodged them when they collided and both fell to the floor. Turning to look back at the two, he pulled out his other tonfa.

"Should I bite you to death first?"

"What?!"

"Oi! Get off me, Kinks! And what the hell, Hibari! I know you're pissed at me, but you didn't have to throw me into him!"

Levi was thrown off to the side as the figure sat up with a glare at Hibari, who just scoffed.

"Hmph. You were in the way."

"N-Natsu?!" Tsuna yelled in shock.

She didn't hear him of course as she pushed herself up off the ground, but turned towards him anyway with a tired look on her face.

"Hey, Tsuna."

"H-How did-"

She sighed and rubbed her head. "I ran into Hibari outside. He knew I knew what was going on and dragged me here. As you can see, he's not happy."

Tsuna glanced at Hibari and freaked out when he saw that he was being egged on by Squalo.

"Please stop. A fight between guardians outside of a regulated match would result in a disqualification for both participants." The Cervello said.

Natsu personally thought their attempts at calming Hibari were pointless because once Hibari was ready for a fight; there was nothing that could stop him except more fighting. It was interesting though, to see Yamamoto dodge Hibari's attack and provoke him even more. Then, Reborn called out to him.

"Caiossu, Hibari."

"The baby? Sorry, but I'm busy right now."

"While going out of control here is fine too, you might miss out on something even more fun."

"Fun?"

Natsu caught on to what Reborn was saying and came over as well with a nod.

"He's right. It might not be right away, but if you don't fight now you might have a chance to fight Mukuro again."

He smirked and turned his head to the side.

"Hmph, really?"

He then turned to the Cervello asking about the repairs and once they confirmed that they would fix everything, he spun around on his heels and spoke to Yamamoto.

"Is that so? Then I changed my mind. Don't lose to that one over there before my battle." He turned to Natsu and grabbed her by the collar again. "Tachibana. Let's go."

"Eh? Go where?!"

He ignored her and dragged her back down the stairs, leaving Tsuna and the others wondering what exactly was going to befall their poor friend who seemed to have caught Hibari's interest.

"H-Hibari actually stopped fighting?" Tsuna stuttered out.

"Not quite. It looks as though Natsu's going to be the one he's fighting, but from this we can see how great he considers the humiliation he suffered at the hands of Mukuro." Reborn stated, which had Tsuna freaking out even more. "A-Are you serious?! Shouldn't we go help Natsu?! She's still hurt from before and are you sure it's okay to promise Hibari something like that?!"

"Who knows."

"Who knows?!"

"And if you want to go save Natsu, you're welcome to go ahead."

That had Tsuna fidgeting in his place. On one hand, he wanted to help Natsu before her injuries got worse. Not to mention that she said she had been training all day. But then, he didn't want to get beat up by Hibari for interfering. As he contemplated the pros and cons of his possible actions, the Varia had left.

"Geeze, and I was wondering what would happen when Hibari showed up and started rampaging." Gokudera muttered.

"Still, to have Hibari on our side, we'll be stronger. After his training, he's probably become even more skilled."

Tsuna paled at the thought and worried about what Natsu was going through right now, when he remembered Gokudera's wounds.

"Ah! We have to treat Gokudera's wounds!"

Dr. Shamal left, saying something about not examining guys when a familiar voice came from a little down the hall.

"It can't be helped. Romario, examine him instead."

"Dino!"

"Looks like we missed the Varia. Hibari still hasn't showed up has he?"

"Eh? He came a short while ago."

"What?! When?!"

"Don't worry," Reborn said. "He didn't create much trouble before leaving aside from taking Natsu with him."

"Natsu?"

"The girl you met before who held her own against Squalo, moron." Reborn kicked Dino upside the face. "How strong did Hibari become?"

Dino sat up, rubbing his face with a grimace. "Who knows?"

"What?!" Tsuna shouted. "What does that even mean?!"

He was really worried about Natsu now. _Who knows what Hibari has learned and he's probably testing it out on her I really want to find her but…Agh! I can't let her get hurt!_

"Reborn. I'm going to find Natsu."

The little hitman smirked and tilted his fedora, before hopping on his shoulder.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Tsuna nodded and left his friends in the hall with Dino before dashing out of the school to find Natsu. _Let's hope Hibari hasn't done anything too bad._

* * *

"Is there-" _Dodge._ "Any reason why-" _Dodge again._ "You're attacking me right now?!"

Hibari's frown deepened as he swung his tonfa at my injured shoulder. _This jerk! I don't even know why he's attacking me and he's purposely going after my weak spot?!_ I barely dodged the attack and used my tekagi-shuko to block his other tonfa from hitting my injured arm. _He's definitely gotten faster and his stamina is impeccable, after fighting those lightening guys with one hand and now challenging me. Although…I wish I knew WHY!_

I managed to get behind him somehow and tripped his legs out from under him, but he rolled and got back up with an attack, that I expected. You see, there's this thing about Hibari that makes him somewhat predictable. He's always trying to be on the offensive side. So, I dodged and threw him over my shoulder huffing and puffing since I was still exhausted from my fight with Fon earlier. Unfortunately, that left me open for his next attack and I was hit hard in the stomach with the side of his tonfa. I fell to my knees, coughing, before looking up at him.

"Is this all you are, Hibari?"

"What are you talking about, herbivore?"

I frowned. "You can't fight the person you want so you take it out on the next best person, not caring that I'm injured and probably won't be able to fight very long anyway. You just want someone to take out your damn frustration on. If I'm an herbivore, then what are you? You're nothing more than a scavenger that plays on the weak. You're no better than Mukuro."

His face grew absolutely livid and he went to hit me across the face, but I didn't move and just stared at him when he stopped centimeters from my face and turned his head. I looked as well and saw Tsuna and Reborn running in our direction. Not bothering to glance back at Hibari, I spoke softer so as Reborn and Tsuna wouldn't hear what I said next.

"You can be better than him though, you know." I just assumed I had his attention and continued. "You just need to learn what to fight for."

I gave him a small smile, despite my battered state, and he lightly hit me on the head with his tonfa.

"Stupid omnivore."

He stalked off, ignoring whatever it was Tsuna was shouting at him and I mentally chuckled at my quick change in status as an herbivore to an omnivore. It was only when Tsuna helped me up that I soon realized the full extent of my injuries. I grew light-headed almost immediately and Tsuna luckily caught me before I fell, trying to be careful about my shoulder as he gently laid me down on the ground. I focused on what he was saying to me, surprised that he was actually being so calm.

"Natsu, are you okay? What's wrong?…Reborn! What do I do?!"

_And there goes the calm._ I ruffled his hair with my good arm and gave him a small grin.

"It's okay, Tsuna. I'm just a bit tired."

His face changed and I was beyond shocked when tears started forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Tired? Are you stupid?! Why do you keep doing this, Natsu?! Why do you keep getting yourself hurt?!"

The tears fell down his face and I just stared back at him with my mouth open attempting to figure out what I should say to fix this. _Did I do something wrong? W-Why is he crying?_

"Tsuna?"

His brown eyes met mine and I stared back at the swirl of emotions, searching for an explanation as to why he was upset with me.

"I-I just…" He bowed his head, laying it in the crook of my shoulder as he clutched at my shirt. "I just don't want you to keep getting hurt because of me."

I missed the last part, with being deaf and all, so I looked to Reborn for an explanation and he mouthed the words back to me. Something in me felt torn and I don't know why, but I grabbed the back of Tsuna's shirt and hugged him.

"I-I'm sorry…So sorry…P-Please…Please stop crying, Tsuna…I-I…I'm really sorry."

I found myself shedding tears as well and felt Tsuna's arms wrap around me in an embrace as he lifted me off the ground. I couldn't tell who, but I felt the vibrations of Tsuna's voice as he spoke with someone and I couldn't care less at the moment. I just needed to know someone was here and they cared.

* * *

A dark cloaked figure watched the sleeping girl for a moment before brushing a strand of red-orange hair from her face. He quietly chuckled to himself when she shivered and her face scrunched up, and he slowly pulled out a dagger. He was unbelievably calm, despite the fact that he was standing in Tsuna's room, but he was confident because he knew everyone was still downstairs talking about the ring battles.

The blade of the dagger ran along the sleeping girl's face, giving her a small cut on her cheek, yet not waking her. Bringing the dagger up to his own face, he licked the small amount of blood off the blade before raising it to kill her. He brought the blade down, only to pause just inches from her clothing when he heard footsteps and voices coming up the stairs.

"Hey, Reborn! What are you doing?! You're going to wake up Natsu!"

The man in black scoffed and hurried out the window, promising to deal with the girl another day just as the door was opened and in walked Tsuna and the hitman tutor. Nothing seemed wrong to Tsuna, but Reborn knew better.

"Reborn!" Tsuna half-whispered. "What are you looking for? There's nothing up here!"

The baby hitman jumped onto the window sill and glanced around, spotting a single black figure disappearing around a corner yards away.

"Dame-Tsuna. Did you have your window open?"

"Huh? What does that have to do with-Hiii!" Tsuna held his hands up in fright as Reborn gave him a scary look and pointed his gun at him. "N-N-No! I-I don't think so! B-But, uh, why are you asking?"

Reborn jumped off the window and onto the bed where Natsu was left sleeping. He frowned when he noticed the cut on her cheek and pointed it out to Tsuna.

"Someone was up here…and they were going to kill Natsu."

Tsuna immediately grew serious and he gazed out the open window with a serious look that one wouldn't expect coming from him.

"Reborn. I'm going to tell the others to leave. Will you-"

"Just go, Dame-Tsuna. I'll watch her."

Tsuna nodded and walked out of the room to send the other guardians home while Reborn closed the window and sat down next to Natsu's sleeping form. He'd grown close to her, even though she wasn't technically a guardian, but something about her reminded him of Fon and of…Luce. _Natsu shares both of their attributes. Fon being calm, strong, and intelligent and then Luce…She was always kind and calm during even the worst of times, but she was more than willing to sacrifice herself for others. I can see that same light in Natsu. Which is why I won't allow anything to happen to her under my watch._ And down in the other room, Tsuna was thinking the same thing.


	12. Author's Note! SUPER Important!

**Oh man, you guys are going to be very upset about this, but I won't be updating for a while. My laptop died on me Christmas Eve and I haven't been able to fix it. T.T It really sucks because I was in the middle of writing updates (for The Black Panther, Street Smarts, and Amber Leaves) and it just stopped working and now it won't turn on. It's possible that I will lose **_**everything**_** as far as ongoing fanfic ideas, new chapters, and new fanfics. My mom is trying to save everything, but I don't know if my computer will be fixed or if I'll have to get a new one and start over.**

**I **_**will**_** have you know that I am handwriting the next chapter for Amber Leaves in a notebook right now and I will use my family's other computer to update it soon, hopefully. If I'm lucky, my computer problems will be solved soon, but for now most of my updates will be slow or on hold. So I'm super sorry for all of you who have been looking for updates and for those of you who are following me and now have 8 new emails from me. ^^**


	13. Chapter 12

**Whoo! Okay. I think I've gotten back into Natsu's head here and have updated for you awesome reviewers! ^^ Please, _please_ let me know if I made my character out of character so I can go back and try to somehow fix poor Natsu. And also review please and tell em how this chapter is. I think it's actually a bit dull until the ending there. **

* * *

I woke up _way_ late the next morning…or evening in my case. My whole body was unbelievably sore and I welcomed the shower I took. When I headed downstairs in some of Tsuna's clothes, on the hunt to find Nana so mine could get washed, I was surprised to find Tsuna and Reborn missing from the dinner table.

"Uh, Nana? Where's Tsuna and Reborn?"

She turned to me with a smile, taking the clothes from my arms.

"Oh! Good evening, Natsu. Reborn said that him and Tsuna were going to cheer for the boxing competition and that it was okay for you to sleep in. So I made you dinner."

I looked at the table full of food and my stomach growled loudly, but I really wanted to be there for Yamamoto.

"Actually, Nana, is it okay if I skip dinner tonight? I really should be there with them."

She did something surprising then, placing her hands on her hips and giving me a look.

"Now you listen here, Natsu. You are not leaving this house until you have some food in that stomach. And I'm sure if you hurry, you'll be able to catch up with them, okay?"

She winked at me and I flushed lightly in embarrassment at being scolded before sitting down in my chair and stacking my plate full of food. As I ate, I silently felt happy that I had someone like Nana to take care of me like part of her own family. Believe it or not, I did get lonely sometimes in that empty apartment of mine. Once I finished my fourth helping of food, I quickly got my laundry from the dryer and changed, only to stop when I glanced in the mirror. On my cheek, was a cut that I _knew_ wasn't there before. I brushed it with my fingers and frowned at the unsettled feeling in my stomach. Shaking it off for now, I double checked my weapons and, with a satisfied nod, I hurried down the stairs and towards the door.

"Bye Nana!"

I turned to wave at her, but she handed me a rather large bag and I paused, taking it from her.

"Give this to the others. I'm sure they're hungry and you're welcome to help yourself too."

I nodded with a small smile. "Thank you, Nana."

I hurried out the door then and tucked the bag close to my chest as I hurried across rooftops to the school. As happy as I was for what Nana had done, that feeling in my gut still hadn't gone away and I was really worried about what that entailed. _I just hope it's nothing that will happen during Yamamto's trial._ The moment I reached the school gates, I shivered, the feeling of eyes watching me from far off giving me chills. I glanced around, but saw nothing so I mentally shrugged, assuming it was probably Mukuro again. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I headed over to where I assumed the trail was being held at and once I opened the large metal door, my eyes widened at the sight of the damage teat had been done to the school this time. _If Hibari was here, he would certainly kill us all._ Upon finding Tsuna and the gang huddled around in a circle, I walked over and made my presence known.

"I feel like I've missed something." I said, as all eyes went to me.

"Natsu!" Tsuna shouted while Yamamoto just chuckled.

"You missed our cheer."

"Sorry." I said, reaching into the bag and pulling out an onigiri (rice ball) and handing it over to Yamamoto. "Here. Nana made them. You should have one before you go."

He smiled and took it, ruffling my hair. "Thanks, Natsu!"

I frowned and tried to fix my messed up hair. "Yeah. Welcome."

Something must've happened, because all eyes went to the Cervello and I turned to them as well so I could figure out what they were saying.

"So, rain guardians, please approach the middle of the field. Also, as this time they'll be in danger of being submerged, the watcher seats will be outside of the building. The match will be displayed on the big screen on the wall. Everyone but the two guardians please exit the room quickly."

I wasn't sure what to do, but everyone began filing out of the room one by one, giving Yamamoto words of encouragement, so I did the same.

"Yamamoto."

"Yeah, Natsu?"

"Be safe."

He seemed surprised, seeing how I didn't tell him to try his best or to win like the others had, but smiled all the same.

"Hehe, okay!"

I nodded, accepting his answer and slowly headed to the door as he walked away with his bamboo sword bouncing off his shoulders. Tsuna stood at the door, looking back at him and I messed up his hair to get his attention.

"You should've just told him to be careful, Tsuna."

He blinked at me a few times in apparent shock. "H-How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

I gave a small smile. "Because that's what I was thinking. But he'll be okay, Tsuna. Yamamoto's strong…He plays baseball after all."

Tsuna sweat dropped at that, but I secretly smiled to myself. I _had,_ after all, gotten Tsuna to stop worrying so much. As the metal doors closed behind us, I looked up to the screen and suddenly frowned. _Wait a minute. How is this going to work? I can't hear what the stupid monitor is saying. Well this sucks._ I huffed and sat down Indian style on the grass outside, taking another onigiri out of the bag and chewing on it angrily as I watched the match begin. _At least I can see what's happening._

I watched as Girly-Man charged forward and watched as Yamamoto dodged by ducking underneath the swing of his sword. Girly-Man was prepared for that though, and shot what appeared to be bullets out of the side of his sword. I could feel the tension from everyone around me as the bullets exploded, but I knew Yamamoto had gotten out of it. I couldn't make out what they were saying to each other, but I saw Yamamoto's shock when Girly-Man 'disappeared'.

"He's good at using his surroundings." I grumbled with my mouth full, just as Girly-Man popped out from behind a pillar and hit Yamamoto's sword.

What's more, Girly-Man fired even more bullets at Yamamoto and at such a close distance, I was nearly worried for him. I hadn't heard about his training, but it was obvious to me that he had had a great deal of it, just by the way he moved. But it was pretty surprising to find that he had blocked Girly-Man's bullets. I smirked a little to myself.

"He's been training hard, neh, Reborn?"

I glance up at Reborn who nodded. It seemed I possibly interrupted him though, for he continued.

"Well either way, I was the one who spotted his talent. Aren't I great?"

I was really confused now, but turned back to the screen to see even more bullets fired at Yamamoto. He countered it pretty well, but I was starting to get even more worried. I didn't know much about Girly-Man, but even I knew that it could be easy to learn how to counter moves if you'd seen them before. _Let's hope Yamamoto has something more up his sleeve other than defenses._ I could tell that the others were talking about something behind me, but I didn't want to miss anything important in the match and continued to watch as Yamamoto actually initiated an attack. It was an extremely good attack and might have done a lot of damage to Girly-Man, but I saw what Yamamoto had done and sighed to myself.

"He's too soft."

I saw Tsuna kneel down to be in my sight lines and I raised a brow at him.

"What do you mean, Natsu?"

I pointed at the screen just as Girly-Man came up unscathed. "Not only did Girly-Man back out of the was of the sword, but Yamamoto was using the back of his sword."

"Is that possible?!"

I waved my hand, a bit rude I'm sure, but the match was still going and Tsuna can get the information from Reborn. _It's possible Girly-Man has already seen this sword style so he reacted to it accordingly, but if that's so, then Yamamoto is going to have a problem._ _Not only that, but if Girly-Man noticed that he used the back of his sword, then he's going to have an even bigger problem._

"Girly-Man's got a temper." I muttered, watching as he charged at Yamamoto and cut both their fields of vision. "Yamamoto's already lost the first round."

Just then, Girly-Man found Yamamoto and cut deeply into his shoulder. I grit my teeth and clenched my fists around the fabric of my pants, but I had already knew this was going to happen. To me, it was obvious and not being able to warn Yamamoto about it only had me angry at myself. Something kicked me in the back of my head, and I looked back to see Reborn glaring down at me from Dino's shoulder, causing me to shiver.

"Don't go blaming yourself, Natsu."

I frowned, ignoring Tsuna getting mad at Reborn, and nodded. He was right, after all. Blaming myself wasn't going to change anything, so I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Yamamoto was okay, after all. He had gotten up and was charging at Girly-Man once more, so there was nothing I needed to worry about…for now.

Water was thrown about on the screen and I noticed Girly-Man taking a chunk out of the pillar and scowled once more. Now Yamamoto was blind in one eye and he had been hit hard. _That…That was a paralyzing move. I've seen Fon use it before, but things are only getting worse for Yamamoto._

"Come on, think, Yamamoto." I muttered to myself, knowing that he couldn't hear me. "If he knows all your old moves, then you've got to come up with something new."

I watched as Yamamoto jumped up to the next level, but sighed when I saw Girly-Man attack him from below. _You can't think you're safe for an instant in a battle. _I thought. _That only leads to you being caught unawares._ Just then, I noticed a look of surprise cross Yamamoto's face and tilted my head to the side as he began to smile.

"Did he figure something out?" I questioned, when I finally caught what Girly-Man was saying, thanks to a close up.

"Brats! Make sure you have your eyes wide open, because you're about to witness the end of this sword-wielding brat!"

I slowly began to smile, realizing what was going on and stood up, brushing off any dirt on my pants. Tsuna gave me a look and I gave one in return.

"Hm?"

"W-Where are you going? The match isn't over yet, Natsu."

I just gave a smile and turned away with a wave. "Just meeting up with someone, Tsuna. Besides, Yamamoto can handle this match now."

I knew I had only confused Tsuna more, but I was more concerned about this feeling. Someone had been watching me for a while now and I was going to figure out if it actually was Mukuro or not. So I hurried up to the top of an adjacent building facing the school and called out for him.

"Oh Pineapple head!~ I know you can hear me! I got some questions for you!"

A thick mist began to cover the roof and I rolled my eyes at his theatrics only to shiver when his breath ran across my ear.

"Could you not do that? The last time someone came up from behind me, I threw him to the ground. And I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate that."

Mukuro came around in front of me with Ken and Chikusa, and smirked as he laughed.

"Fufufu. That wouldn't work on me, Natsu, but you know that already, don't you?"

"Yeah, well…I wanted to ask you something, Pineapple head."

His eye twitched at the name, but he kept his cool composure. "And why should I answer any questions of yours?"

I lifted up the bag Nana had given me. "I have food."

The tick mark on his head grew bigger, annoyance evident in his voice. "That may work on getting information out of _you_, but I am not easily bribed by food."

There was a low growl and we both turned to see Ken with a light flush on his face.

"S-Shut up! I haven't eaten! Who cares?!"

I smiled a little and tossed him the bag. "Take it."

"I don't need your help! I can get my on food!"

I blinked, returning to my blank expression and holding my hand out. "Then give it back."

"No! Uh…Finders keepers! Byon!"

I turned back to Mukuro with a slight smirk. "You were saying?"

He frowned. "The actions of these idiots does not mean I will answer your questions."

"Then what do you want? If it's information, I don't have much of anything to give you. I can't even give you a good fight, since Hibari practically killed me yesterday." I mumbled.

He laughed once more. "Fufufu. It _was_ an interesting battle."

I frowned at him. "Says you. You've probably been watching me for the past week for all I know. Especially today. That's called stalking, Pineapple head."

His eye twitched once more. "I have not been watching you, nor stalking you, for that matter. I've only checked up on you during the battles. And I would appreciate it if you did not keep calling me that ridiculous name."

I slowly began to smirk. "Why thanks, Pineapple head. That's what I wanted to know."

I turned to walk away, but I knew I wouldn't get away from him that easily. Sure enough, he appeared directly in front of me with an angry look.

"You can be quite the pest, Natsu."

"Oh? How's that?"

He slowly began to smirk. "You got your answers out of me. And in a cunning way, I might add."

I raised a brow, not used to hearing compliments from someone like Mukuro.

"Thanks, but why do I feel like there's something more you're trying to tell me?"

"Fufufu, that's because there is. You've gotten your answers, but I still have yet to receive anything in return."

I sighed, knowing that he wouldn't just let me go now. "What do you want?"

He smirked. "Something only you could give me."

Now, I was confused. _Something only _I_ can give him? What do I have that no one else does?_ He noticed my confusion and brushed a cold finger along the cut on my cheek, making me wince.

"Your flames are of a very mysterious property and I would like to have a sample of them."

I frowned. "Some of my flames for a simple answer that I had to drag out of you? That's not exactly fair."

He smirked, probably having expected this. "Fufufu. That's why, in return for your flames, I will tell you about who _has_ been watching over you and how he's connected to that cut on your cheek."

I scrunched up my brows. _How could he know about this person? Does he know them personally? And what would this person have to do with the cut on my cheek? I was at Tsuna's house the whole night, so there's no way him or Reborn wouldn't have known about it._ Coming to a decision, I nodded.

"Okay. I'll let you have a little bit of my flame."

He chuckled once more and held out a small container he fashioned out of his mist flames. "Fufufu, just put your hand in here with the flame and I will tell you what you want to hear."

I ignited my hands with a black and gold colored flame and placed it in the box, allowing Mukuro's mist flames to pull my flame off my hand. It was a tiring process and I was breathing a bit heavier than I expected, having felt his mist flames pulling even more flame from me. He was the one to pull the box away from me and I sighed, just glad it was over. There was just something about my flames being taken that made me feel as though I was losing a part of myself. Shaking my head to clear up some of the fogginess, I glanced up at Mukuro as he tucked the box away.

"Now tell me about this person, Pineapple head."

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, but began explaining. "He has been following you for the past few days. Before that, I did not sense him."

"So you _have_ been stalking me."

He frowned and ignored my attempt at a joke. "Late last night, while the Vongola brat was downstairs with his companions, my mist detected him coming in through the window of the room you were in. He was the one who cut you and was most likely going to kill you should the baby have not felt something off. By the time him and the brat came in to check on you, the man was already gone."

I frowned. _Why didn't Reborn and Tsuna tell me? It would be nice to know that there was someone coming after me, but how did I not notice this guy for so long? Surely, if he's been following me for the past few days, I should've noticed him._ Looking at Mukuro once more, I questioned him further.

"Do you know who he is?"

"Fufu, still trying to get answers from me, Natsu?"

"It would be nice to know who was trying to kill me and why no one told me about it until now."

Mukuro started to walk off, but turned around to tell me one last thing. "I do not know who he is, but I look forward to seeing when the two of you should meet. Fufu, it should be quite the battle."

With that, he disappeared into the mist with Ken and Chikusa-who hadn't said a word this whole time, I'm sure-leaving me with more questions rather than answers. _So some persona out to kill me has been following me around the past few days without my knowledge, yet Reborn and Tsuna have decided to keep this hidden from me._ I scowled, looking up at the night sky after having returned to the school gates, rubbing my aching stomach. _Things aren't looking good._


End file.
